"Great team" - Rafael Nadal's sister Maribel celebrates the Spaniard and Anabel Medina Garrigues' Olympic journey from Beijing 2008 to Paris 2024

Rafael Nadal's sister, Maribel, recently celebrated the Olympic journey of the Spaniard and Anabel Medina Garrigues from the 2008 Beijing Olympics to the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. Nadal is currently in Paris as a player, while Medina Garrigues is serving as the women's Spanish team captain.

Nadal will be making his fourth and final appearance at the Olympic Games and he will be competing in both the singles and doubles events. He will be partnering with Carlos Alcaraz in the doubles category.

The former World No.1 has a remarkable Olympic record, having won two gold medals. He claimed gold in the singles category at the 2008 Beijing Olympics and another in the doubles category at the 2016 Rio Olympics.

Apart from the 22-time Grand Slam champion, Spain will be represented by Carlos Alcaraz, Pedro Martinez, Pablo Carreno Busta, Marcel Granollers, Jaume Munar, Cristina Bucsa, and Sara Sorribes Tormo in tennis at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Nadal and Alcaraz will be one of the men's doubles pairs competing at the Paris Olympics, the other being Pablo Carreno Busta and Marcel Granollers. David Ferrer and Anabel Medina Garrigues have been appointed as captains for the Spanish men's and women's teams, respectively.

Recently, the official social media account of Rafael Nadal's academy shared a couple of pictures of the Spaniard and Medina Garrigues, celebrating their journey at the Games. While one photo was from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the other was from the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics. The caption read:

"From Beijing 2008... To @paris2024! Best of luck @rafaelnadal in your fourth olympic games! And also to @medinaanabel, our Women’s Head Coach, who will be in her sixth olympic games (4 as player and two as 🇪🇸 captain). VAMOS‼️ Best of luck at the @olympics representing 🇪🇸 !" the caption read.

The former World No.1's sister, Maribel, who is the head of the academy's marketing and sales department, re-shared the post and praised the Spaniards for making a "great team."

"Equipazo 😍 🇪🇸 @rafaelnadalacademy 🔥 ," Maribel captioned her Instagram story.

Screen grab of Maribel's Instagram story [Source: Instagram]

Rafael Nadal and Anabel Medina Garrigues won Olympic medals in Beijing 2008

Rafael Nada & Anabel Medina Garrigues with their respective medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics [Source: Getty Images]

Rafael Nadal made his singles debut at the Olympics in 2008 in Beijing. He was seeded second and had kicked off his campaign by defeating Italy's Potito Starace 6-2, 3-6, 6-2 in the first round before getting the better of Australia's Lleyton Hewitt 6-1, 6-2 in the second round.

The Spaniard continued his winning streak by overcoming Russia's Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2 in the third round and Austria's Jurgen Melzer 6-0, 6-4 in the quarterfinals. In the semifinal match, the former World No.1 defeated third seed Novak Djokovic 6-4, 1-6, 6-4 to secure his spot in the final

At the summit clash, the former World No.1 defeated Chile's Fernando Gonzalez 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3 to win the gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Meanwhile, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual teamed up and represented Spain in the doubles category at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. They were the fourth seed and began their campaign by defeating the Ukrainian pair of Mariya Koryttseva and Tatiana Perebiynis 6-3, 6-4, followed by victory against the Australian duo of Rennae Stubbs and Samantha Stosur 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in the first and second rounds, respectively.

The Spanish duo then overcame the fifth-seeded American pair of Lindsay Davenport and Liezel Huber 5-7, 7-6(6), 8-6 in the quarterfinals and the eighth-seeded Chinese pair of Zi Yan and Jie Zheng 6-4, 7-6(5) in the semifinals.

However, in the final, Anabel Medina Garrigues and Virginia Ruano Pascual fell to the second-seeded pair of Venus and Serena Williams 6–2, 6–0, and finished as the silver medalists.

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