Serena Williams becomes the latest top tennis player to DROP OUT of the Tokyo Olympics, after admitting she didn’t want to go if she had to be separated from three-year-old daughter Olympia for the Games’ Covid bubble
Serena Williams is the latest big-name tennis player to announce she will not be travelling to Tokyo for the Olympics.
The 39-year-old, who has four gold medals and made her debut at the Sydney Games in 2000, had previously said she was reluctant to go because she would not be able to take three-year-old daughter Olympia with her.
Speaking at her pre-Wimbledon press conference, Williams said: ‘I’m actually not on the Olympic list- not that I’m aware of. If so, then I shouldn’t be on it.’
Serena Williams is the latest big-name player to announce she will not be travelling to Tokyo
She declined to explain her reasoning, adding: ‘There’s a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don’t feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry.’
Williams joins Rafael Nadal and Dominic Thiem in deciding not to compete in Tokyo, while Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic have not yet committed to taking part.
Williams would not be drawn on the specific reasons behind her decision not to head to Tokyo
This week it emerged that Japanese Emperor Naruto ‘appears concerned’ about the possibility that the Olympic Games could cause the coronavirus to spread as feared by many members of the public, the head of the Imperial Household Agency (IHA) has said.
While the emperor’s concern was framed as the official’s impression rather than something he explicitly expressed, the rare insight into the monarch’s thinking on the Games lit up social media, with many wondering whether there would be a formal address on the topic.
‘The emperor is extremely worried about the current status of coronavirus infections,’ IHA Grand Steward Yasuhiko Nishimura told a regular news conference on Thursday.
‘Given the public’s worries, he appears to me to be concerned about whether the Olympics and Paralymics event, for which he is honorary patron, would cause infections to spread.’
The Games still face heavy criticism for pressing ahead despite the ongoing covid-19 threat