Olympics silver medallist shares behind-the-scenes nightmare and almost skipped Games | Tennis | Sport
Donna Vekic revealed that she almost skipped the Paris 2024 Games before becoming the first Croatian woman ever to win a medal in the tennis event at the Olympics.
The 28-year-old had a nightmare start to her Olympics journey when she got sick and her flight was cancelled.
But a few days later, she walked away with the silver medal.
It’s been a standout summer for Vekic, who reached the final in Bad Homburg and got to her first Grand Slam semi-final at Wimbledon. But after her heroics at SW19, she almost gave up on the Olympics.
“After Wimbledon semi-finals I had so much pain everywhere that I was debating going to the Olympics because I thought, okay, in these conditions there’s no way I can win a medal,” the world No. 21 said after losing to Qinwen Zheng in the gold medal match. “I had pain in my arm, pain in my ankle, I was sick.”
And that wasn’t the only barrier Vekic faced in her journey to the silver medal. She continued: “Everything was happening all at once. When we came here, first our flight was cancelled, we arrived late. Everything was going wrong. When we had our first practice, I told my coach, I was coughing so bad I couldn’t hit two shots in a row.
“I was like, Nick, what are we doing here? And I told him this yesterday and I was like, Jesus, one week later we have a medal. So it’s been absolutely incredible, I’ve really given it [my] all. When you play for your country it’s definitely a little bit more special so I’ve completely given it 200 per cent.”
Although it wasn’t the outcome Vekic wanted as she just fell short of the gold, it’s been another statement tournament from the 28-year-old as she upset No. 2 seed Coco Gauff in the third round. “I’m extremely proud and happy to have won a medal for Croatia,” she added.
“It’s been my lifelong dream and yesterday has been one of the happiest days of my life and of course now I’m a little bit disappointed because I wanted gold but still so happy and so proud.”
And the Croat thought her Olympics run was even more unexpected than her semi-final showing at Wimbledon. She explained: “I feel pretty good on court. I was really surprised – okay, Wimbledon I play well on grass so that was not so surprising for me.
“But making the finals on clay, I did not expect that, that’s for sure. Every time I was winning the first couple of rounds, I was telling my coach, I cannot believe the shots that I am making, how well I’m playing. It’s definitely a little bit of a surprise.”
