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The caddie’s instincts sometimes make a champion! And one of golf’s greatest collabs turned this into reality. In a revealing throwback, Steve Williams shares his crucial role in Tiger Woods‘ legendary 2008 US Open win. As Woods’ former caddie of 12 years, he sheds light on the bold move that made all the difference. Meanwhile, his 2015 memoir reveals the behind-the-scenes story of their iconic partnership.

That gutsy move came on the 72nd hole at Torrey Pines, where Williams convinced Woods to ignore the yardage book and trust his instincts on club selection. “I convinced Tiger to ignore the yardage book and hit the club I felt would deliver the best outcome. It was a hell of a discussion, but my gut feeling on how he would execute that shot proved correct,” recalled the 60 year-old-caddie in his book, Out of the Rough: Inside the Ropes with the World’s Greatest Golfers on Page 28.

It was a pivotal moment, as Woods needed a birdie for a playoff spot. Consequently, Woods’ trust in the caddie’s instincts paid off, as he sank a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 to force a playoff with Rocco Mediate. Mediate, however, missed a putt to save par at the 19th hole and Woods took advantage, sealing his 14th major victory in a sudden death hole. Ultimately, Williams’ decision and Woods sticking with it led the pair to the coveted US Open title, their last major win jointly.

In hindsight, Williams’ decision proved even more crucial, as he reflected, “ If he’d gone with the normal club for that yardage he’d probably have hit the ball too far and given himself a much tougher birdie putt.” The caddie’s decision-making and feel for the game proved invaluable in that moment. This incident showcased the pair’s trust and chemistry, a key factor in their 12-year partnership.

Steve Williams and Tiger Woods
REU8512935 TIGER WOODS AND NEW CADDY STEVE WILLIAMS, 1999-03-20 (photo); (add.info.: Tiger Woods stands with his caddy Steve Williams (L) on the 10th fairway at the Bay Hill Invitational in Orlando, Florida March 20. Woods just made the cut for the third round, giving him a streak of having made 25 consecutive tournaments cuts.
CWL/RC/ME); REUTERS.

As Woods acknowledged, the win was a surprise even to him: “I don’t know how it even got this far, but I’m very, very fortunate to have played 91 holes and come out on top.” This sentiment sets the stage for understanding the unlikely nature of Woods’ win at the 2008 US Open.

Tiger Woods’ unlikely win at Torrey Pines

The odds were against Tiger Woods from the start. He had not played a competitive round in 2 months and 2 weeks, and his ailing left knee was a constant concern. Moreover, his opening round of one-over-par 73 did little to inspire confidence. It was an inauspicious beginning to a week that would ultimately end in triumph.

The 83x PGA Tour champ in the post Tournament presser, reiterated, “I dealt with a few things this week and just had to keep plugging along. I wasn’t feeling my best, I didn’t get off to the greatest of starts and when I finally got off to a good start (in the play-off), I screwed that up by finding the bunker on three.”

The severity of Woods’ knee injury became clear after the tournament when he announced that he would undergo season-ending surgery. Moreover, the bond between Woods and Williams proved to be the winning formula, for their iconic partnership in golf history. Do you remember this classic incident from the 2008 US Open?

Since 2019, when Tiger Woods grabbed his 15th major, the GOAT Debate has been never-ending. On one hand, it’s the 48-year-old, and on the other, it’s 18-time major winner Jack Nicklaus. The Golden Bear has the majors, while Woods has total PGA Tour wins (82). One thing is common though: Both have 0 Olympic wins. However, in a recent viral post on X, Jamie Kennedy posted a theory about the majors crowing players like the Olympics with gold, silver, and bronze medals. And surprisingly, there too, Nicklaus dominated Woods. Massively! As per their current standings, the 84-year-old would have amassed 18 gold 19 silver, and 9 bronze medals, representing his marvelous first, second, and third finishes at the majors. Woods, on the other hand, would have 15 gold, 7 silver, and 4 bronze medals. And while this is nothing but a theory, it does show that when it came to the big 4 events in golf. Jack Nicklaus was a force that perhaps even Tiger Woods could never keep up with. https://twitter.com/jamierkennedy/status/1817871304583729209 Interestingly, currently, Woods and Nicklaus have reversible ages. The veteran is 84 while the golf champ is 48. Yet these debates of one being better than the other persist. But when it comes to internal relations between the two, things couldn’t be more friendly. Woods looks up to Nicklaus as a mentor. He often even seeks out his advice. As for the senior golfer, he’s always rooting for the 25-time major winner. Even now!

Tiger Woods 

Jack Nicklaus believes Tiger Woods has a lot more to give

Can Tiger Woods still roar? Golf legend Jack Nicklaus certainly thinks so! At the 2000 PGA Championship, Woods’ unbelievable performance convinced Nicklaus, then 60, to hang up his golf clubs. But now, 23 years later, Nicklaus still believes that 48-year-old Woods still has what it takes. Nicklaus, who, keep in mind, was the biggest thing in golf back in the late 1900s, has been impressed with Woods’s recent performances, including the display he put on at the Masters earlier this year. Woods made the cut with an impressive first 2 days. And even though he finished dead last on Sunday, Nicklaus believes he has it in him to win. Tiger has the ability to still play,” Nicklaus said at the Legends Luncheon according to Golf Digest. “He doesn’t play, obviously, quite as well as he did, but I think a lot of that is his physical ailments.” And well, it is true. Tiger Woods has had his fair share of injuries in the past couple of years. From his knee to his back, Woods has had several surgeries too, and that has affected both his skill and appearance on the greens. But the 15-time major winner remains adamant that he can win. And with the other GOAT in golf agreeing, who’ll dare contest that?

Simone Biles is just trying to soak in the moment.

Biles has further cemented her legacy as one of the greatest gymnasts of all time after she took home the gold medal in the women’s vault final on Saturday, marking her third gold medal of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Biles is just the second woman in Olympic history to win the vault twice, having claimed top of the podium at the 2016 Summer Games in Rio.

However, these are her third Olympic Games – only five people have competed in four.

Biles will be 31 by the time the Los Angeles games come around, and while she’s shown no signs of slowing down in Paris, that’s certainly considered “elderly” in gymnastics.

But again, Biles is still rewriting the history books, and just wants to enjoy it. So, she took a subtle shot at, perhaps, the media and just about everyone else who asks a specific question.

“you guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics. let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for,” the now seven-time Olympic gold medalist posted on X Sunday.

She won gold in the women’s gymnastics all-around team final earlier this week, to move past Shannon Miller to have more Olympic medals than any other American gymnast with eight total. But on Thursday, Biles went for more hardware in the women’s individual all-around, clinching her sixth gold medal with a dazzling floor exercise routine.

A day after the conclusion of Olympic swimming, gymnastics will crown its final champions in Paris.

That means two more chances on Monday to watch Simone Biles in what could be her final Olympic appearances. Track and field continues to ramp up and will award four more medals, and U.S. women will go for an improbable gold medal in 3×3 basketball after starting Olympic play with an 0-3 record.

Meanwhile, men’s soccer will set up a championship final, and U.S. teams will be busy in beach volleyball knockout matches.

Here’s what we’re looking forward to most on Sunday in Paris:

Simone Biles is back for more hardware along with two of her U.S. teammates. The now 10-time Olympic medalist (7 gold, 1 silver, 2 bronze) returns to the Olympic gym on Monday to compete in the balance beam (6:36 a.m. ET) and floor exercise (8:20 a.m. ET) finals, where she’ll be a top contender in both events. It might be the last time ever to watch Biles in Olympic competition.

USA’s Sunisa Lee will be among her competitors in the balance beam final. USA’s Jordan Chiles will challenge her on the floor. Biles’ Brazilian rival Rebeca Andrade (all-around silver medalist) will compete in both events.

Men’s gymnastics will crown champions on the parallel bars (5:45 a.m. ET) and the horizontal bar (7:31 a.m. ET) on the final day of gymnastics competition in Paris. No U.S. athletes made the final in either event.

Simone Biles
(FILES) In this file photo taken on July 25, 2021 USA’s Simone Biles competes in the floor event of the artistic gymnastic women’s qualification during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on July 25, 2021. – Simone Biles withdrew from another Olympic final on August 1, 2021. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)

Check your local listings and streaming alternatives (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com) as not all events will air live on NBC depending on your timezone.

The track and field competition is in full swing and will crown four champions on Monday. The men’s pole vault final kicks off the medal competition at 1 p.m. ET (NBC). USA’s Sam Kendricks will compete for his second Olympic medal after securing bronze in 2016.

Up next on the medal stage is the women’s discus final (2:30 p.m. ET, NBC), where USA’s Valarie Allman will compete for her second Olympic medal after securing gold in Tokyo. The women’s 5,000-meter final (3:10 p.m. ET, NBC) will feature USA’s Elise Cranny, Karissa Schweizer and Whittni Morgan competing against Kenyan favorite Faith Kipyegon.

The medal action concludes with the women’s 800-meter final (3:47 p.m. ET, NBC), where USA’s Juliette Whittaker will fight for a podium spot in a field featuring favorites Keely Hodgkinson (Great Britain) and Mary Moraa (Kenya). Men (1:55 p.m. ET, NBC) and women (2:45 p.m. ET, NBC) will also run in preliminary 200-meter competition.

After starting the Olympics with three straight losses, the U.S. women are a win away from securing a medal in 3×3 basketball.

USA’s Dearica Hamby, Hailey Van Lith, Cierra Burdick and Rhyne Howard won their last four games of pool play and will take on Spain in Monday’s first semifinal (11:30 a.m. ET). Canada and Germany will compete in the second semifinal (12:30 p.m. ET, USA).

The semifinal losers will compete for the bronze medal at 3 p.m. ET (streaming, check local listings). The winners will play for gold at 4:05 p.m. ET (NBC).

Men will also crown a 3×3 champion from a semifinal group featuring Netherlands, Lithuania, Latvia and France. Team USA is done after a stunning 21-6 loss to Netherlands to conclude pool play. The men’s gold-medal game will air at 4:35 p.m. ET (NBC).

The men’s soccer tournament will narrow its field two in a semifinal round featuring host France.

Morocco and Spain will play in the first semifinal at noon, ET. France will take on Egypt in the 3 p.m. ET semifinal. The winners will be guaranteed medals and advance to the gold-medal game slated for Friday. Monday’s losers will play for the bronze medal on Thursday.

France is the favorite after defeating Argentina in a heated quarterfinal match on Friday and will have the backing of an enthusiastic home crowd. Team USA’s Olympics are done after losing to Morocco in the quarterfinals.

Three U.S. teams will compete in the beach volleyball Round of 16 on Monday.

Former NBA player Chase Budinger and partner Miles Evans start the U.S. action at 8 a.m. ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com) against Anders Mol and Christian Sorum of Norway. At 11 a.m. ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com), USA’s Miles Partain and Andy Benesh will take on Italy’s Paolo Nicolai and Samuele Cottafava.

U.S. women Taryn Kloth and Kristen Nuss will take on Canada’s Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson at noon ET (Peacock and NBCOlympics.com). The winner of each match will advance to the quarterfinals. The loser will be eliminated.

USA’s women’s team of Sara Hughes and Kelly Cheng previously advance to the quarterfinals in a three-set thriller over Italy’s Valentina Gottardi and Marta Menegatti on Sunday.

Simone Biles celebrated her three gold medals at the 2024 Olympics in Paris by posing for a set of eye-popping snaps with fellow Team USA gymnast Jordan Chiles.

Barely 24 hours after the 27-year-old openly complained about reporters constantly asking her about ‘what’s next’ following her new achievements at the Olympics this summer, Biles took to social media to put her close bond with Chiles, 23, on display.

‘red, white, biles&chiles,’ she captioned her post on Instagram.

The pair can be seen hanging out on a balcony in what presumably is the Olympic Village, which is located in the northern Paris suburb of Saint-Denis.

Both gymnasts wore booty shorts with ‘TEAM USA’ printed on them as they also showed off their back muscles with crop tops.

Chiles also posted a series of pics with Biles on Instagram.

She wrote ‘team usa girlies…’ with a red heart emoji as a caption to her post.

After claiming gold in the teams finals, all-around events and women’s vault earlier this week, Biles expressed her frustration with the line of questioning taking place after her performances in Paris.

Simone Biles

Addressing reporters on X, she posted: ‘you guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics.’

Biles then added in another post: ‘let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for’.

When asked by a fan what does come next for her after winning another gold, she replied: ‘babysitting the medal’.

Biles’ victory in Saturday’s vault final handed her the seventh gold medal of her illustrious Olympics career.

In front of a star-studded crowd that included actor John Travolta, track star Allyson Felix, artists Pharrell and Flavor Flav, her teammates and her parents, she averaged 15.3 for her signature Yurchenko double pike and Cheng vaults to claim a second gold on the event eight years after she trumped in Rio.

It means Biles, who is already the most decorated gymnast in history, is now only the second woman to win two vault crowns after Vera Casalavska, of Czechoslovakia (1984 and 1968).

Biles has two more chances to boost her medal haul in Paris with balance beam and floor exercise finals on Monday.

Taylor Swift saluted Team USA stars Simone Biles, Sha’Carri Richardson, and Katie Ledecky in a new video for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The 34-year-old singer narrated a promo for the NBC Primetime Olympics which aired on August 3. Unsurprisingly, the ad featured one of Swift’s hit songs, “Style,” from her re-released album, 1989.

The video included shots from this year’s Games including Biles on the mat and Richardson on the track. “Never be afraid to show them who you are,” Swift says in a voiceover. “Especially when the whole world is watching.”

The promo also featured a video of Ledecky diving into a swimming pool during an Olympic event.

“Because there’s no one way to be the best. No one way to inspire everyone else who will someday follow,” Swift continued.

The promo went on to pay tribute to the American athletes with one shot of Biles waving at the crowd, after doing an impressive flip on the mat, and another of Richardson giving a fan a high-five.

“You do what you love. You love what you do,” Swift said. Her song went on to play, with her singing: “We never go out of style.”

Swift’s moving message then referenced her song, as she said: “Believe in your style. Whatever it is.”

The video continued with shots of Ledecky cheering in the pool, Biles smiling on the mat, and Richardson showing off her long, painted nails for the camera. The Grammy-Award winner then gave a sweet shout-out to each of these Olympians.

“Katie, Sha’Carri, and Simone, three American stars, three different visions of greatness,” she said.

The promos is a dedication to three of the most successful US atheletes in the Paris 2024 Olympics. Biles has 10 Olympic medals so far, as she won three of her gold ones during this year’s Olympics. Meanwhile, Ledecky has more than 14 Olympic medals, four of which she won during this year’s Olympics.

During the the women’s 100-meter final on August 3, Richardson took home the silver, marking the fan-favorite’s first-ever Olympic medal win.

Simone Biles

This isn’t the first time that Swift has honored US Olympians, and has close ties with Biles. During the 2024 US Olympic Gymnastic Trials on June 27, Biles competed in the qualifiers with an incredible floor routine set to Swift’s 2017 song: “…Ready For It?”

On June 29, Swift responded to the gymnastics legend by reposting a video of her floor routine to X. “Watched this so many times and still unready. She’s ready for it tho,” Swift posted.

After Biles withdrew from the Tokyo Olympics in July 2021, due to her mental health, Swift showed her support in a moving video tribute for the gymnast. As the singer narrated the clip, set to her 2020 song “This Is Me Trying,” she acknowledged the public scrutiny that Biles faced.

“What do we want from our heroes? What do we expect of them? What do we need from them? What happens when they surprise us?” Swift said. “When you have the attention of the world, everything you do takes on a bigger meaning. It can be a heavy burden. It can be a chance to change everything.”

Biles responded to the message from Swift on X at the time, writing: “I’m crying. How special. I love you Taylor Swift.”

The singer then replied: “I cried watching YOU. I feel so lucky to have gotten to watch you all these years, but this week was a lesson in emotional intelligence and resilience. We all learned from you. Thank you.”

Simone Biles has issued a public appeal supporting fellow Olympic champions after being asked in Paris about her future during which she did not ruled out competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

Simone Biles wants fellow Olympic champions to be given time to enjoy their winning moments.

After earning her third gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics and answering questions about her future at a press conference, the most decorated U.S. Olympic gymnast in history issued a public appeal.

“You guys really gotta stop asking athletes what’s next after they win a medal at the Olympics,” Simone, who has won seven Olympic gold medals and 10 overall since her debut at the Games in Rio in 2016, wrote on X, formerly Twitter, Aug. 4. “Let us soak up the moment we’ve worked our whole lives for.”

A day earlier, the 27-year-old came in first place in the women’s gymnastics individual vault final, which followed her gold medal victory in the individual all-around competition and Team USA’s collective No. 1 performance at the team final earlier in the week.

At an Aug. 3 press conference, Biles spoke about her Olympic future.

Asked if she had taken part in her final vault competition, Biles referenced her winning performance from earlier that day, saying, “Is this my last? Definitely the Yurchenko double pike. I mean, I kind of nailed that one.”

Biles then gave a hint about whether she would compete at all in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles, which would mark her fourth Olympic run.

“Never say never,” the athlete said. “The next Olympics is at home, so you just never know.”

She added, laughing, “But I am getting really old.”

While Biles is not the oldest Olympic champion, she is the oldest Olympic all-around winner in 72 years since Maria Gorokhovskaya competed at the Helsinki Olympics in 1952 at age 30. And former Team USA gymnast Marie Margaret Hoesley was 35 when she took part in the same competition.

The oldest gymnast to compete in the Olympic Games is Uzbek athlete Oksana Chusovitina, who was 46 when she took part in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Read on to relive some of the most emotional moments from the 2024 Paris Olympics…

Aug. 1: Gymnastics

Simone Biles

USA gymnast Simone Biles beams after winning gold in the women’s all-around final, sporting her “GOAT” necklace.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Great Britain’s Andy Murray—who announced his retirement before the Paris Games—tearfully bids farewell to the crowd after being eliminated alongside Dan Evans in the men’s doubles.

Aug. 1: Table Tennis

Tomokazu Harimoto of Team Japan lets off some steam during his match against China’s Fan Zhendong.

Aug. 1: Swimming

Men’s 200m backstroke silver medalist Apostolos Christou of Greece gets emotional while standing on the podium.

Aug. 1: Tennis

Spanish tennis Carlos Alcaraz lets out a victorious scream after defeating Tommy Paul of Team USA in men’s single.

July 31: Diving

Great Britain’s bronze medalists Andrea Spendolini Sirieix and Lois Toulson share a raw moment after the women’s synchronized 10m platform diving final.

July 31: Soccer

Korbin Albert gets emotional after scoring a goal in the women’s soccer game.

July 31: Swimming

Team Sweden’s Sarah Sjoestroem celebrates her gold medal in the Women’s 100m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

Team USA’s Katie Ledecky reacts to winning gold in the Women’s 1500m Freestyle Final.

July 31: Swimming

French swimmer Anastasiia Kirpichnikova cries tears of joy after seeing her silver medal-winning time in women’s 1500m freestyle event.

July 31: Judo

Serbia’s Nemanja Majdov (L) and Greece’s Theodoros Tselidis (R) share a moment after their round in the men’s 90kg round of 16 in judo. Tselildis, who beat Majdov, later won the bronze medal.

July 31: Sabre

Manon Apithy-Brunet (L) kisses her husband France’s Bolade Apithy after his team beat Egypt.

July 31: Triathalon

Gold medalist Alex Yee of Team Great Britain and silver medalist Hayden Wilde of Team New Zealand share a subtle celebratory moment after crossing the finish line.

Pacquiao, 45, participated in a boxing-rules exhibition in Tokyo on July 28 involving the Japanese kickboxer Rukiya Anpo but looked a shadow of himself.

He has been linked with an official bout against the 29-year-old Mario Barrios, which would be the 73rd of his career and would see him challenge ‘El Azteca’ for his WBC welterweight world championship. There is a 16-year age gap between the boxers.

The 58-year-old Tyson, meanwhile, is scheduled to fight the 27-year-old internet sensation Jake Paul at the AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, on November 15. There is a 31-year age gap between these boxers.

Speaking as recently as early this year, Hearn appeared keen to book a fight between his embattled boxer Conor Benn and an older legend in Pacquiao. There was even a promotional face-off between them in Riyadh in March.

Mike Tyson

 

Hearn also promoted Paul as he famously oversaw the YouTube creator’s pro boxing debut in January 2020 when Paul defeated Ali Eson Gib by first-round knockout in Miami, Florida.

Eddie Hearn on Mike Tyson and Manny Pacquiao
But, speaking to World Boxing News in Hollywood this week, one thing is clear — Hearn no longer wants to see Pacquiao fight someone like Benn.

“Not after watching his fight the other night,” Hearn told us, adding that he no longer considers a Pacquiao vs. Benn bout realistic.

“It’s dangerous for him to return to the ring against someone like Conor Benn.”

As for Tyson, he was supposed to fight Paul earlier this summer but withdrew from the contest, which was due to air on Netflix, citing an “ulcer flare-up.”

The fight has been rearranged and is a major part of the fall schedule in the US.

But Hearn told us the Tyson vs Paul bout is “20 times worse” than any return Pacquiao makes in the coming months.

TORONTO (AP) — Top-ranked Iga Swiatek withdrew Friday from a U.S. Open tuneup in Toronto after winning a bronze medal at the Paris Olympics.

Swiatek was one of several players to withdraw from the National Bank Open, which begins Tuesday. Grand Slam champions Barbora Krejcikova, Elena Rybakina and Maketa Vondrousova also pulled out Friday along with Jasmine Paolini, Maria Sakkari, Danielle Collins and Caroline Garcia.

Swiatek has won five Grand Slam titles — four at the French Open, including this year, and one at the U.S. Open.

Iga Swiatek

“I’m sorry to announce that due to overall fatigue caused by the last couple of weeks on the court I need to withdraw from the tournament in Toronto,” Swiatek said in a statement, citing her need for time off after a busy schedule that included the Olympics and a change of playing surfaces.

Krejcikova, this year’s Wimbledon champion, withdrew with a thigh injury after reaching the Olympic quarterfinals. Rybakina cited acute bronchitis that also kept her out of the Paris Games.

Past Grand Slam champions Sofia Kenin and Slone Stephens moved into the main draw for the Toronto tournament.

Iga Swiatek has earned a bronze for Poland’s first tennis medal at any Summer Games by beating Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1

PARIS — Iga Swiatek dabbed at her eyes with a white towel while sitting on her sideline chair at the 2024 Olympics after a lickety-split, clean-as-can-be win Friday that earned a bronze for Poland’s first tennis medal at any Summer Games.

Sure, she beat Anna Karolina Schmiedlova of Slovakia 6-2, 6-1 in 59 minutes on Friday, but make no mistake: These were not purely tears of joy.

They were, at least in part, remnants of the disappointment — devastation, really — the No. 1-ranked Swiatek felt after a poor performance a day prior cost her a shot at what she really wanted, what she kind of figured she would head home with: gold. She’s a perfectionist, for one thing, and someone who, frankly, rarely loses anywhere, least of all on the red clay at Roland Garros, the site of her four French Open titles and home to Olympic tennis this year.

“After the match, I was pretty confused, because I still feel like I lost yesterday, and that was kind of a huge loss,” Swiatek said. “On the other hand, I won today … so I should be proud of that. There’s like a lot of mixed emotions and still is.”

Swiatek played much more cleanly than she did Thursday in a straight-set semifinal loss to Zheng Qinwen. That result ended Swiatek’s 25-match unbeaten streak at Roland Garros, which includes three championships in a row at the French Open.

Zheng faces Donna Vekic in the women’s final on Saturday.

Swiatek called the semifinal exit “one of the toughest losses I probably ever had in my career” and said she wept for six hours afterward.

“It was like,” she said, “somebody really broke my heart.”

Why?

Because, Swiatek explained, “the tension and the stress” at the Olympics was overwhelming, particularly the sense that she needed to succeed for her country and not just for herself.

Iga Swiatek

“I’ve never felt something like it, even (at) Grand Slams,” she said. “It wasn’t easy.”

A chat with her sports psychologist, Dara Abramowicz, helped Swiatek recalibrate and regroup. That allowed her to play more freely against Schmiedlova.

The No. 1-ranked Swiatek was a popular pick to leave these Games with gold, in large part because of her dominance in Paris. That’s not happening. The bad feelings from the loss will linger, Swiatek conceded, but she hopes for not too long.

She’s looking forward to getting a chance to enjoy the spectacle of the Olympics before leaving town.

“I’m going to just remember winning the bronze medal,” she said. She paused, and added: “I hope so. I guess.”

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