Canada's Leylah Fernandez believes an Olympic medal tops winning Grand Slam

Thursday, 25 July 2024 at 17:30

Canada’s young tennis star, Leylah Fernandez, believes that winning an Olympic medal is more prestigious than winning a Grand Slam. The 2024 Olympics will begin on July 26 in the capital city of France, Paris, where thousands of athletes from all over the world will participate in numerous sports with the ultimate objective of winning a medal for their respective countries.

Fernandez, who will be part of Canada’s contingent in the upcoming mega-event, was recently quoted in a report in which she stated that, in her opinion, winning an Olympic medal is a bigger achievement than winning a Grand Slam. She also explained how watching the competition at a young age motivated her to become part of the contingent and achieve something for her country.

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“Personally, I feel that winning an Olympic medal is above winning a Grand Slam,” she said. “I think the Olympic Games is a beautiful event, an incredible event where so many countries come together and so many different cultures participate. Whenever I watched the Olympics, I had a great sense of motivation, of wanting to be part of it because I can’t think of anything bigger. There is also a greater sense of responsibility, as we are not playing for ourselves, but for a country, a community.”

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This will be Fernandez’s second appearance at the Olympics. She also participated in the 2020 Olympics where she lost to Czech Republic’s Barbora Krejcikova in the second round in straight sets with a score of 6-2, 6-4 in the singles category. This year, the 2021 US Open runner-up, going through a rather difficult season, will face Karolina Muchova in the opening round of the competition. This will be the first-ever meeting between the two players in professional tennis. Fernndez’s most recent appearance came at Wimbledon, where she was knocked out after losing in the second round to Denmark’s Caroline Wozniacki with a score of 6-3, 2-6, 7-5.