PICTURE: Novak Djokovic, wife Jelena, son Stefan & daughter Tara pose with Serb's Olympic gold medal after historic victory at Paris 2024
Novak Djokovic captured his first Olympic Gold medal with a scintillating victory over Spain's Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday, completing his stellar list of accolades. Buoyed by the occasion, he was seen celebrating with his wife Jelena, and their kids Stefan and Tara.
Djokovic miraculously entered the Oly⁸mpics without a single title this year. He'd also torn his meniscus during the French Open for which he required surgery. He recovered slowly and even made it to the finals of the Wimbledon Championships roughly a month later.
The 37-year-old opened his Olympics campaign with a routine win against Matthew Ebden. He then saw off longtime rival Rafael Nadal, Dominik Koepfer, Stefanos Tsitsipas, and Lorenzo Musetti, en route to a blockbuster summit clash with Carlos Alcaraz, in a re-match of their Wimbledon finals. The duo battled it out in two tight sets, but it was the Serb who ultimately came out on top 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) courtesy of some tireless ball-striking from the back of the court.
Visibly emotional, Djokovic immediately made his way to his box following the historic triumph where he was greeted first by his daughter Tara, and then other members of his team. He also had his eyes constantly turning towards them during the medal ceremony.
The ecstatic family of four posed for plenty of photographs with the historic Gold medal in the locker rooms. Jelena shared an image of them to her socials, referring to her husband as the 'GOLDEN BOY from SERBIA.'
"Zlatan a naš ❤️❤️❤️❤️ GOLDEN BOY from SERBIA 🇷🇸🇷🇸🇷🇸," Jelena Djokovic wrote on Instagram.
While Jelena has been a mainstay in the Djokovic dugout for many years now, kids Stefan and Tara have recently started accompanying him to almost all the big events.
With the win, the 24-time Grand Slam Champion became the fifth player in the open era to complete the career Golden Slam, having won all four singles Grand Slams and the Olympic gold medal.
He also became the oldest man to win the Olympic Gold medal. Alcaraz would have become the youngest to win had he won.
"I put everything on the line" - Novak Djokovic on what the Olympic Gold means to him
Novak Djokovic became the oldest man to win an Olympic gold medal at 37 years old. He made his debut in the competition back in 2008 where he won bronze, his only other medal in the competition up until now.
Speaking to the press after his win, Djokovic admitted that he laid it all out there during his clash against Alcaraz. The fact he'd tried four times and failed before only made this one sweeter.
“I don’t know what to say. I’m still in shock, honestly. I put my heart, my soul, my body, my family, my everything on the line to win Olympic gold at age 37. I finally did it,” Djokovic was quoted as saying.
He paid a touching tribute to his home nation of Serbia and his fans for constantly being by his side and the unbridled support.
“Everything [about this is special], but most of all it is my country,” said Djokovic. “It’s my pride to play for Serbia. I know Carlos and Rafa, they love to play for Spain. Andy loved to play for Great Britain. Roger for Switzerland. Alex Zverev won in Tokyo for Germany. You saw the reactions of all these guys when they win. It’s something special,” Djokovic was quoted as saying.
The Serb is next scheduled to compete at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, where he is the defending champion.