Iga Swiatek in tears as she secures bronze medal just a day after Olympics heartache

Iga Swiatek was reduced to tears after winning bronze for Poland in the women’s singles against Slovakia’s Anna Karolina Schmiedlova.

The world no.1 won 6-2 6-1 just a day after she fell to a shock defeat against China’s Zheng Qinwen in the semi-finals.

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Swiatek bounced back from Friday’s defeat to win bronze in ParisCredit: GettySwiatek is a star on the clay court at Roland Garros having won four of the last five French Open titles, so was favourite for gold in Paris.

However, she failed to beat Qinwen and refused to shake the umpire’s hand afterwards before crying in an interview with Eurosport.

The 23-year-old then walked away and was still visibly emotional, but she return to winning ways a day later.

READ MORE ON THE OLYMPICSSwiatek cruised to victory over Schmiedlova to win bronze for Poland, which could certainly be just the first Olympic medal of her career.

When sitting on her chair after the match she could be seen crying again, although it appeared to be happy tears this time.

This bronze medal is like a gold one because how did she manage to regroup so quickly and win it after such a heartbreaking defeat?

Iga, you won this for yourself, you made history! Iga, we love you so so much, we hope you know and feel it. ❤️🥹 pic.twitter.com/mWB9Pa4ReZ

— Swiateking (@tennis_15love) August 2, 2024

It marks a significant improvement on her maiden Olympics outing at Tokyo 2020 when she lost in the second round to Paula Badosa.

Whilst there may still be a belief that Swiatek should have won gold, her bronze has helped to take Poland to four medals overall in Paris.

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Swiatek beat Irina-Camelia Begu in the first round before subsequent victories over Diane Parry and Wang Xiyu took her to the last eight.

She then beat Danielle Collins, who was forced to retire at 4-1 down in the third set due to injury.

There were tense exchanges between the two during the match that saw Collins become frustrated by her opponent for disrupting her rhythm on serve.

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Swiatek was visibly emotional following her winCredit: Getty

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But she was still able to crack a smile as she celebrates her first Olympic medalCredit: GettySwiatek was also hit by a ball in the stomach and went down to her knees, and said after: “I could not breathe for a moment. It hurt for a bit.”

But after the match, Collins appeared to confront the four-time French Open champion, who was left shocked by this.

Collins then explained: “I told Iga she didn’t have to be insincere about my injury.

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“There’s a lot that happens on camera, and there are a lot of people with a ton of charisma and come out and are one way on camera and another way in the locker room.

“I just haven’t had the best experience, and I don’t really feel like anybody needs to be insincere. They can be the way that they are. I can accept that, and I don’t need the fakeness.”

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