MadameNoire
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Serena Williams has announced that she won’t be participating in the Tokyo Olympics this year. According to CNN, the 23-time Grand Slam winner said that she isn’t interested in competing.
“I’m actually not on the Olympic list…not that I’m aware of,” Williams told reporters. “And if so, then I shouldn’t be on it.”
Williams didn’t delve into why she doesn’t want to be on the Olympic roster but made it clear that it is just something she wasn’t looking forward to being apart of.
“There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision,” she continued. “I don’t really want to…I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry. In the past it’s been a wonderful place for me, but I really haven’t thought about it, so I’m going to keep not thinking about it.”
Since her Olympics debut in 2000, Williams has won four gold medals. The Tokyo Olympics kicks off on July 23, 2021.
Even though she won’t be in Tokyo, she will be participating in the 2021 Wimbledon Tournament, which begins on June 28, 2021. She is hoping to snag her 24th Grand Slam win and eighth Wimbledon title.
Williams isn’t the only one withdrawing from major tournaments this year. Tennis star Naomi Osaka decided not to play in this year’s Wimbledon tournament.
“Naomi won’t be playing Wimbledon this year,” her agent Stuart Duguid said in a statement. “She is taking some personal time with friends and family.”
Osaka also backed out of the French Open earlier this year due to spend time with her family. The four-time Grand Slam champion also won’t be playing in the German Open this summer. Osaka began withdrawing from tournaments after she was fined $15,000 for refusing to participate in media interviews while playing in the French Open due to wanting to preserve her mental health. She revealed she had been going through episodes of depression since 2018.
