In Players' Tribune, Puig reveals weight of Olympic gold

Monica Puig's Olympic title isn't just the highlight of her life, it's the highlight of Olympic achievements for her home country of Puerto Rico. The 22-year-old penned a personal essay for the Players' Tribune, reflecting on what the win meant to her career after a tough 2015, and what it means to the people that so powerfully celebrated her achievement (which was the first gold medal ever for Puerto Rico). The title of her piece Sí Se Puede translates to Yes You Can.

"Seeing the reaction of how everyone enjoyed that final, and enjoyed that moment when I won, it was completely priceless," Puig writes. "I’m so glad I was able to give them that moment of hope, peace and excitement."

In 2015, Puig lost in 15 first rounds. Bouncing back in 2016 was no easy feat, but she writes that the Olympics were meant to be the stage where all her hard work paid off (confirmed by naming her new dog Riobefore the tournament).

The newest revelation Puig offers is how taxing wearing a medal can be.

"I know how this is going to sound, but nobody tells you how heavy the medal is," the world No. 34 says. "It’s really heavy!"

Her neck got sore from wearing it around all day. Now that's a problem any athlete would be happy to have. The medals at this Olympic Games are actually the heaviest in Summer Games history (coming in at 500 grams or just over one pound). Champions probably had to be careful packing checked luggage with the added weight on the way home (luckily Michael Phelps is probably a pro at it by now).

In the end, Puig stresses that the gold win was not a fluke. She'll try to make good on her word at the US Open next week.