Coco Gauff feels that she has “already won” only by earning a spot in the forthcoming Paris Olympics. It would be an added benefit to accept a medal of any color. The current US Open champion wrote an emotional letter to her disappointed younger self, explaining that she had to wait until after childhood to fulfill her dream of making the American Olympic squad. Her letter was sent just over a week before her Olympic debut.
Gauff missed the Tokyo Games three years earlier, when she was barely seventeen years old, after getting COVID-19 the night before she was supposed to leave. The American is making her Paris debut the more sweeter because she has never concealed how saddened she was to miss out on representing her nation that year.
You’re going to be sobbing uncontrollably and wondering how you’re going to tell your team captain the news. Without you, your friends and teammates will have to fight for their country,” she added. But a new day will bring a fresh outlook.
What other options do you have? While your Olympic dream appears to be on pause, people all across the world are dealing with COVID, facing pressure, adversity, and everyday problems. All you’re missing is a major competition. “The fresh perspective on your situation will make a new goal clear to you: qualifying for the 2024 Paris Games.”
Being one of the WTA’s most reliable players during the qualifying round last year—her maiden Grand Slam singles victory coming at the US Open last summer—Gauff won a spot on the American Olympic team.
And in her self-reflection, Gauff revealed exactly how much negativity and outside voices were bothering her. She had been singing about proving naysayers wrong after her first big victory in Queens. “Your outlook isn’t defined by the lines painted on the court; it’s solidified by your convictions, your choice to support others and the belief that you can elicit change,” Gauff stated. “Remain steadfast in your identity and the messages you wish to share with the world.
“Don’t allow the doubts from the outside world discourage you; they will come often. Instead, use them as motivation. You are unstoppable as long as you have faith in yourself. Your passion will never be brighter than when you raise that silver trophy at the US Open. Allow it to brighten your future.
As she attempts to return the United States to the tennis podium, Gauff will be one of the biggest multiple-medal threats of any athlete in Paris. She will compete for the Americans in singles alongside Jessica Pegula, Emma Navarro, and Danielle Collins. In doubles, she will partner with Pegula.
It is only the second time since tennis returned to the Olympic program in 1988 that the United States did not place a medal in any of the five events at the Tokyo Games.
But whether or not Gauff ends up on the podium at the end of the Olympics, she says she’s excited about “learn[ing] and… enjoy[ing]” everything that’s in store for her. “It’s very exciting. You’re eager to go to the Olympics with your colleagues, compete in the tennis competition, and hopefully add to the number of medals the United States has won at each Olympics,” she wrote.
“Enjoy the entire experience outside of Roland Garros in addition to the competition on the court. You will have the chance to interact with athletes from all over the world that you find inspiring.
It is possible to acquire knowledge about novel sports unrelated to tennis, backhands, or baselines. “You mentioned that you hope to medal in the Olympics in your phone’s vision notes. Bronze, silver, or gold doesn’t matter. However, you have already triumphed, realizing your boyhood ambition of competing in the Olympics and representing the US. And you can finally enjoy it now.”
