After monumental success at the French Open earlier this year and a dominant clay-court season, Iga Swiatek was a clear favorite to clinch the gold medal at the Paris Olympic Games. However, she fell short of expectations and had to remain content with only a bronze medal after winning the third-place playoff match. It was Swiatek’s biggest goal this year and she would have to wait for four more years to eye the top prize at the Olympics. Following this setback, her psychologist, Daria Abramowicz, made a stunning revelation about Swiatek’s third-place finish.

Abramowicz was recently interviewed by Rzeczpospolita, a local media outlet, where she got candid on Swiatek not being able to achieve her dream in Paris. The Polish star went down fighting against Qinwen Zheng of China in the semifinals in what was one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.

Expressing how Swiatek felt after winning a bronze medal, Abramowicz said, “Some call Iga a ‘national treasure’. However, it is difficult to do anything about external expectations that grow with the level and scale of success. This is how the world looks.”

Further, she went on to add, “We can only look for strategies to manage them and find ourselves. It’s valuable and satisfying when you get a chance to end a tournament on your own terms. So maybe there’s no joy, but there can be satisfaction, pride, fulfillment.” 

While Swiatek will surely have another shot at winning a gold medal in four years, she would now move her focus to the hard-court season, with the US Open not far away. Amid this, her father had contrasting views about Swiatek’s bronze medal win.

Iga Swiatek’s father comes to her rescue

Despite ending up with a bronze medal, Swiatek faced massive criticism on social media for not living up to expectations. While her fans would have been disappointed with Swiatek’s third-place finish, her father called Swiatek’s achievement ‘special,’ and defended his daughter from the criticism faced online.

He revealed, “An Olympic medal is something special. I will say, perversely, that anyone who thinks it’s easy should try it themselves. It’s easy to judge from an armchair, but it looks different from the inside. It’s perceived differently in the stands or in front of the TV.”

Not only Swiatek’s father but also her coach, Tomasz Wiktorowski, came down hard on critics, saying, “I value only those remarks that are respectable for me. I do not refer to the comments of people who sit in one place, were not outstanding players, or did not coach at the highest level.”

Nonetheless, Swiatek would look to leave all the criticism behind as she aims for a fresh start in the hard-court season. She will be seen in action in Cincinnati ahead of the US Open. Can Swiatek come back strongly after the Olympics setback? Let us know your views in the comments below.