Tennis at the 2024 Olympics being played at Roland-Garros made Swiatek a heavy favorite to win a gold medal before the event began due to her four French Open titles at the venue.
Some of the Pole’s colleagues also thought she was destined to win a gold medal. The Australian Open champion Aryna Sabalenka said she expected Swiatek to win it all in Paris and was shocked when that did not occur
Unfortunately for the world No. 1 and her fans, Qinwen Zheng dashed those hopes. Although the Chinese player deserves credit for her excellent performance, Swiatek was far below her usual level throughout their semifinal.
Understandably, she was very emotional after the defeat. Swiatek cried for six hours after her brutal loss to the eventual gold medalist Zheng, knowing she missed a unique opportunity to bring home a gold medal.
To Swiatek’s credit, she recovered mentally to win the bronze medal the following day against Anna Karolina Schmiedlova. Although that was not her goal before the Olympics started, it was an achievement nonetheless.
The five-time Grand Slam champion shared a post on social media summarizing her thoughts after the Olympics. Although Swiatek acknowledged she was still figuring out how she felt, the bronze medalist was able to give a few adjectives to explain where her mind is currently.
“After a couple of days I feel ready to sum up this chapter…. Joy, happiness, sadness, disappointment, satisfaction, hunger for more, pride and so many other emotions, thoughts… I’m still figuring it out and I feel how valuable this experience was to me.
Swiatek feels it could take time to gain a broader perspective and comprehensively analyze her time at the Olympics. However, she still pointed to areas she is happy with, elements to improve on, and things she is grateful for.
Maybe in the future I will assess these two weeks with a bigger picture and a better perspective, but I already see a lot. First of all, how much progress I’ve made since Tokyo. How much I can do, how many opportunities I have to become a better player and human.”
“But what’s most important is how much I’ve experienced here. It was a special time that wouldn’t be possible without my team and my family. Thank you for what you did for me.”
Swiatek ended her post by discussing how tennis was portrayed more widely in Paris. The 23-year-old said she was really proud of how the sport was pictured in the French capital and was happy her story was part of it.
“When I’m thinking about the Olympics and tennis, I’m so proud, how our sport was pictured in Paris. So many amazing matches, inspirational stories, amazing pictures from the opening ceremony where tennis players had a special place. We should appreciate that tennis plays such an important role in the world of sports. I’m happy that my story is part of it.”
