Four-time American Olympic gold medalist Serena Williams of Saginaw, Michigan, and Canadian Wimbledon finalist Milos Raonic of Richmond Hill, Ontario have both withdrawn from the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Williams did not explain a reason, why Raonic is suffering from a calf injury which has forced him to miss Wimbledon.
Williams is a four-time Olympic gold medalist. She previously won the gold medal in women’s doubles with her sister Venus Williams at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing, and at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Also at the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Serena Williams defeated Maria Sharapova 6-0, 6-1 in women’s singles. It was the most dominant victory in a gold medal women’s tennis final in Olympic history.
Raonic meanwhile will miss his second consecutive Olympic Games. He missed the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro because of concerns of the Zika Virus. At the 2012 Olympic Games in London, Raonic was involved in the longest best-of-three set match in Olympic history. He lost 25-23 to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga of France in the third set of his second round match.
In his statement explaining his withdrawal, Raonic expressed his support for Kim Gaucher of the Canadian Olympic women’s basketball team on Instagram. He stated “I hope athletes like Gaucher don’t have to choose between being a mother and an athlete. The Olympics are about equality, inclusion and competition.” Gaucher is stating she is not allowed to bring her child to Tokyo to breastfeed during the Olympic Games because family members of Olympians are not allowed to enter Japan.
Several other notable players have already withdrawn from the Olympic Games. They include Rafael Nadal, Casper Ruud, Dominic Thiem and Denis Shapovalov.
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