“One of my biggest dreams is to win a gold medal” – Gauff looks ahead to the Olympics
The American was forced to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics at the last minute due to contracting Covid
Coco Gauff at the 2024 Miami Open
With 2024 being an Olympics year, many athletes have their sight set on representing their country and winning a medal. That includes US Open champion Coco Gauff, who turned 20 just last weekend is the top-ranked female tennis player in the United States.
Gauff was supposed to compete at the Tokyo Olympics but was forced to pull out at the last minute after contracting Covid. She has qualified as one of the players on the US team for Paris and has her sights set on winning gold.
“One of my biggest dreams is to win a gold medal, and frankly, I think it’s one of the things that it doesn’t matter what event it’s in. A gold medal is a gold medal, where I feel like the Grand Slams is definitely way cooler to win a singles one than a doubles one,” Gauff told the media in Miami ahead of her opening match in the tournament.
Gauff added that she plans to continue playing as much doubles as she has been with fellow American Jessica Pegula for now but may think of lightening her doubles schedule after the Olympics.
I realized that life isn’t about playing tennis – so I was OK with it after a day.
“I will say next year I do want to play a little bit less doubles maybe after the Olympics, but it’s tough right now I feel like to just stop playing completely when you are doing well with someone who is from your same country, which you don’t see that in a lot of teams. That’s probably my thinking, that at least through the Olympics I want to try my best to stay ranked high enough so we can qualify.”
Recalling her pull out from Tokyo, Gauff said she was crushed for a day but then came to terms with it pretty quickly.
“I was (crushed) for a day, and then I was like, well, there’s nothing I can do about it,” she said. “You know, people have lost family members. And I realized that life isn’t about playing tennis – so I was OK with it after a day.”
Gauff begins her campaign for the Miami Open with a second-round clash against Argentina’s Nadia Podoroska on Friday.
