Indian tennis legend Leander Paes receives the prestigious ‘OLY Certificate’ after representing India at 7 consecutive Olympics

Leander Paes, one of India’s most recognized and respected tennis player, was bestowed with the highly-coveted OLY certificate from the World Olympians Association (WOA) on Tuesday for representing India at 7 consecutive Olympics.

The 18 time doubles Grand Slam champion took to social media to announce his felicitation. He shared a picture of the certificate with the caption, “Delighted to receive the #OlyCertificate in recognition of representing our nation in 7 consecutive @Olympics! #FlyingMan.”

The WOA recognizes the athletes who have competed at the Games and have upheld the values of the Olympic Charter. The organization also permits those honored to use OLY after their names.

Leander Paes started his Olympic journey way back in 1992, just a year after he had turned pro. He participated with Ramesh Krishnan at Barcelona and made it to the quarterfinals of the doubles event in Spain. Paes’s next Olympic participation at Atlanta 1996 proved to be historic. He won the bronze medal at the individual event and broke India’s 44-year medal drought.

At the 2000 Sydney Games, Paes was given the honor of carrying the Indian flag in the opening ceremony. In the 2004 Athens Olympics, Paes again went close to bagging a medal. He played with Mahesh Bhupathi, but they suffered a double heartbreak as they lost in the semifinals as well as the bronze medal playoff.

Paes again partnered with Bhupathi for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and only managed to reach the quarterfinals in the duo’s final appearance together at the Olympics. For London 2012 and Rio 2016, Paes partnered with Vishnu Vardhan and Rohan Bopanna respectively. This extraordinary Olympic stint from Paes made him the only tennis player in the world to participate at the prestigious Games seven consecutive times.