Polish tennis star Iga Swiatek secured a bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics after defeating Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova within just 59 minutes. Her maiden Olympic medal also happened to be Poland’s first Olympic medal in tennis and a dream come true for the Swiatek family.
The victory came after the World No.1 surprisingly lost her semifinal match to China’s Zheng Qinwen, two months after the Polish tennis star lifted her third consecutive French Open title in the same city. However, the heartbreaking loss did not deprive her of taking an Olympic bronze medal home.
Iga’s bronze medal victory came thirty-six years after her father, Tomasz Swiatek competed at the 1988 Seoul Olympics, where he participated as a rower but was unable to win a medal for his country. With her victory, therefore, Iga fulfilled the family’s decades-old dream.
Tomasz competed in the men’s quadruple sculls in 1988, reached the quarterfinals, and finished seventh, thus losing out on a medal at the prestigious Games. However, determined to bring one home, winning an Olympic medal was probably one of the most precious dreams harbored by his 23-year-old tennis star. Talking about the feeling after her Bronze medal victory, she said (via “Hindustan Times”):
“I have never felt anything like that, not even in the Grand Slams, so it wasn’t easy. Having a medal is a dream come true.”
