Rafael Nadal won the Olympic gold medal in men's singles in 2008. He captured the title at the Beijing Olympics, held at the Olympic Green Tennis Centre from August 10 to 17.
Nadal defeated Chile's Fernando González in the final, winning 6–3, 7–6(7–2), 6–3. Serbia's Novak Djokovic took the bronze medal. The victory was especially significant because it came soon after Nadal won the 2008 French Open and Wimbledon.
The Olympic title was the third part of Nadal's eventual career Golden Slam, which means winning all four major singles tournaments and Olympic singles gold. He later completed that achievement by winning the Australian Open and US Open. A common mix-up is confusing this singles gold with Nadal's Olympic doubles gold, which he won with Marc López at the 2016 Rio Olympics.