"I did the switch-a-roo, I wanted a fresh one": Bryan Brothers did Olympic Gold Medal switch, but not by choice

The doubles icons Bob and Mike Bryan conversed in a fun episode of Served with Andy Roddick and mentioned that after the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, they inadvertently exchanged their gold medals.

That year, the singles event saw Andy Murray claiming the gold medal for the home country by defeating world No. 1 Roger Federer. On the doubles side, the Bryan brothers, the top seeds, defeated the French pair of Michael Llodra and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (the second seeds) in straight sets with a score of 6-4, 7-6 to achieve their dream of winning the gold medal.

Despite both brothers having been the absolute dominators of the ATP Tour in doubles for several years, with 11 Grand Slam titles and 10 other finals as a team, they had not yet secured the gold medal, with their best result being the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The Bryan Brothers retired in 2020 with 119 titles, including 16 Grand Slam titles and the coveted gold medal from London. Additionally, they totaled 438 weeks as world No. 1 and ended 10 seasons as the best doubles pair in the world.

Bob Bryan mentioned in the interview that after several years as the best doubles pair in the world, they hoped to finally win the gold medal in London: "Thirty-four years old, there was a sense of urgency, we had to win gold," Bob said. "It all came together, it was one of those moments. There were no tears on that medal stand, it was shock."

“It was a few weeks later that it finally hit us,” he continued. “I carried [the medal] around in my bag for six months, brought it out at bars, it was a chick magnet—for Mike, because I was married.”

“I remember your gold medal,” Mike said to his twin brother. “It had so many scuffs on it, it wasn’t even a circle anymore. You were handing it out to so many fans, they were dropping it, and it was almost a square.

“I kept mine at my house, I shined it up, it was in the front, I had lights shining on it—and then Bob did the old switch-a-roo, came out to California and put his little square, it wasn’t even gold it looked silver, and then took my gold out to Miami,” Mike added.

“Mike had this mint-condition gold medal in the safe, my ribbon was all tattered, so I did the switch-a-roo,” Bob said. “I wanted a fresh one,” he added.