“My whole career flashed before my eyes” – Iga Swiatek lays bare emotions after bronze medal finish at Paris Olympics
Iga Swiatek clinched Poland’s first tennis medal at the games after beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlove in the bronze medal match 6-2, 6-1 on Friday. The World No. 1 entered the tournament as a strong favorite for the gold but was happy with her finishing among the podium places in Paris.
The 23-year-old reflected on coming into the bronze medal match after missing out on the coveted Olympic gold following her loss to Qinwen Zheng in the semi-finals.
“The very fact that in tennis, if we lose, we normally say goodbye to the competition but this time I had to get out there one more time. I had to be professional, get it together and win the last match. It meant it was different from other regular competitions” Swiatek said
Swiatek also spoke about the importance of winning an Olympic medal and standing on the podium at the Olympics.
“Standing on the podium, my whole career kind of flashed before my eyes, how I started, never really expecting to be fighting for medals and playing on this level, so it’s still in a way an abstract concept to me, I am proud of my self very much,” Swiatek said.
“If I hadn’t won bronze, I would’ve cried for a week” Iga Swiatek reflects on bronze medal win after semifinal disappointment
Iga Swiatek with her bronze medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 | Getty
Iga Swiatek with her bronze medal at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 | Getty
Iga Swiatek has had a phenomenal run on clay, which made her the overwhelming favorite for the gold medal in Paris. The 23-year-old entered her semi-final match against Zheng with a strong head-to-head record of 6-0. However, Zheng stormed past Swiatek 6-2, 7-5 to register her first win against the World No.1.
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Swiatek called this defeat ”one of the hardest defeats” in her career after finding solace in the bronze medal match:
“I’ve never felt like this before. Yesterday I experienced one of the hardest defeats of my career,” Swiatek said.
She also opened up about her emotional state after missing out on the gold following her semi-final exit:
“I cried for six hours yesterday, if I hadn’t won (the bronze) I would have cried for a week. Being number one makes me feel I can handle everything, but this tournament showed me that’s not the case. This motivates me to work harder,” she added
Iga Swiatek will be looking to carry this momentum forward as she sets her eyes on the US Open which is set to begin later this month.
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