Coco Gauff speaks on the solidarity among US athletes at the Olympics - "It feels like we've known each other for a long time"
WTA
American tennis prodigy Coco Gauff is experiencing her first Olympics as a singles competitor at the 2024 Olympic Games, and the World No.2 has revealed how much she enjoys being around her fellow US athletes.
The World No.2 recorded an easy 6-1 6-1 victory over Argentine Maria Lourdes Carle in her second round match on Monday. Gauff has been impressive at the summer games in Paris, with the event being held on the clay courts of Roland Garros. However, the American also seems to be enjoying mingling with her compatriots from other sporting disciplines.
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Gauff elaborates on meeting different Olympic legends
The reigning US Open champion was chosen as the female flag-bearer for America at the Olympics opening ceremony, alongside NBA superstar LeBron James. In addition to meeting James for the first time, Gauff also got the opportunity to share memories with other Olympic stars, including
sprinters Sha’Carri Richardson and Noah Lyles, gymnasts Simone Biles and Suni Lee, swimmer Katie Ledecky and “almost all the track team.”
“It's crazy just being with the athletes in the village,” said Gauff. “All of us rooting for each other when we obviously don't know each other, but it feels like we've known each other for a long time. I was hanging with some of the track athletes last night.”
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In a show of solidarity, some of those track athletes came to support Coco in her first-round singles match. Like college, the athletes are randomly assigned roommates in the Olympic Village. Gauff’s tennis teammates have moved to other quarters during the Olympic tournament, but she has chosen to remain in the Village. She’s now sharing an apartment with Team USA archer Catalina GNoriega and table tennis player Lily Zhang.
“It’s really cool learning about new sports,” said Gauff, who’s become interested in fencing at these Olympic Games. “Every Olympics, I try to learn the rules to a new sport. I got a little bit of fencing knowledge [from Lauren Scruggs, Olympic silver medalist in women’s foil] and am enjoying watching it."
Growing up in a household where soccer was king, my earliest memories are filled with chants from packed stadiums and the rhythm of a ball being passed across neighborhood streets. But somewhere along the way, the quiet elegance and raw emotion of tennis pulled me in. What began as a curiosity became a lifelong passion; not just for the sport itself, but for the stories it tells: of grit, of heartbreak, of improbable comebacks and human resilience.
As a tennis writer, I bring the observational lens of someone who didn’t grow up in the sport, but fell in love with it as an outsider; a perspective that lets me see both its technical beauty and its emotional depth. Over the years working with TennisUpToDate, I’ve had the privilege of reaching more than 3.5 million readers worldwide, with one of my features ranking among the site’s top three articles.
With a background in storytelling and a creative mind always searching for meaning beyond the scoreboard, I aim to craft narratives that go deeper than results and rankings. Whether it’s a rising star breaking through or a veteran fighting off Father Time, I try to capture the heartbeat behind the headlines.
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mandoist12-11-2026 - Tell this to Andreeva!
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mandoist12-11-2026 - I predicted whenthe list was finalised that Linda Noskova would win the WTA Finals and her matches against Gauff and Kostyuk prove that. She is the best (underrated) player in the world!Rapunzel11-11-2026
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mandoist09-11-2026 - Ironically, Martina became a U.S. Citizen about the same time as the Orange Convicted Felon & Abuser was just beginning on his road to losing all Daddy's Millions!!
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mandoist08-11-2026 - Can't help but suspect Vukov is back to his old self again. Thank you, WTA. Perhaps you can give them a "Battling Couple of the Year Award 2026" ??
mandoist08-11-2026









