"It's 20 years, I'd rather have gold"- Olympic silver medalist Mardy Fish makes shocking admission about exchanging his singles medal for doubles gold

Mardy Fish has recalled a candid exchange with Max Mirnyi over their respective medals that they won at the Olympic Games. According to Fish, the exchange makes him realize now that he would have rather won gold. The former World No. 7 lost the gold medal match at the 2004 Athens Olympics and had to settle for silver.

Fish's rise to prominence on the ATP Tour came in the early 2000s, and at the 2004 Athens Games, he found himself on the brink of becoming the second American player in the Open Era to win gold in men's singles (Andre Agassi was the first at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics). However, in what eventually turned out to be a thrilling five-set finale, Fish lost out on the gold medal to Chile's Nicolas Massu 3-6, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 4-6.

In the mixed doubles event at the 2012 London Olympics, it was Belarus' Max Mirnyi who clinched mixed doubles gold alongside Victoria Azarenka. The duo faced Great Britain's Laura Robson and Andy Murray in the gold medal match and registered a 2-6, 6-3, [10-8] win.

Recently, the now-retired Fish featured as a guest on an episode of the Nothing Major Podcast, where he was asked if he would be open to trading his silver medal in men's singles for a gold medal in mixed doubles. The former World No. 7 appreciated the question and proceeded to look back on a conversation he had with Mirnyi, during which he had told the Belarusian that his singles silver medal was worth more than Mirnyi's mixed doubles gold.

"Such a good question dude. I was talking to Max Mirnyi. He got the gold (in mixed doubles), and I said, my silver is better than your gold," Fish said.

Fish went on to recall Mirnyi's hilarious response to the suggestion and ultimately concluded by saying that he would rather have won gold in mixed doubles.

"He looks at me dead in the eye and goes, "In 20 years, no one's going to give a f**k. What is this? It's a gold medal,". And I was like, "F**k, you're right,". It is 20 years now (since Fish clinched silver), and I think I'd rather have the gold," Fish added.

Mardy Fish had hilariously reacted to Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz's Paris Olympics 2024 doubles debut

Rafael Nadal (L) and Carlos Alcaraz (R) (Source: Getty)

The pair of Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, dubbed 'Nadalcaraz', drew considerable attention to the men's doubles event at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Even though they had never played doubles officially before, their respective credentials on the ATP Tour, coupled with the fact that the Paris Games marked Nadal's final Olympics appearance, made them a popular pick for the men's doubles gold medal.

'Nadalcaraz' got off to the perfect start in their men's doubles campaign at this year's Games. The Spanish duo, led by Nadal, stunned sixth seeds Andres Molteni and Maximo Gonzalez from Argentina 7-6(4), 6-4. The two former World No. 1s in singles combined, at times, to devastating effect.

Fish had tuned in to watch the match, and later took to X (formerly Twitter), hilariously suggesting that Nadal and Alcaraz should have been disqualified because of how good they were.

"I declare this team as not fair. Disqualify them for being too good immediately," Fish wrote.

Unfortunately, Nadal and Alcaraz's performances across the next two matches didn't quite match up to their collective level against Molteni and Gonzalez. While the Spaniards narrowly edged the Dutch pair of Tallon Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof in the second round, their campaign was cut short in the quarterfinals by eventual silver medalists from Team USA, Rajeev Ram and Austin Krajicek.