'Bizarre': Pegula Voices Displeasure Over Team Element Absence At Olympics
WTA
Jessica Pegula called the absence of the team element at the Olympic Games bizarre as she talked about the Games ahead of the 2024 United Cup in Perth.
Pegula touched down in Australia recently for the United Cup, a team competition where she'll play with fellow Americans hoping to repeat last year's success. She was part of the US team that won the United Cup trophy last year and just enjoys playing as a team and the whole team atmosphere.
While the Olympics are not necessarily a team event, there is a strong team element present, with players competing under their national flag. They're all in it together, hoping to represent their country, which brings togetherness across sports.
In some sports, like tennis, athletes can play against a player from their country, which kind of kills Pegula's Olympic mood, and she finds it quite bizarre.
I just think it's weird that you could, like you should play as a team. I don't understand that I could play against another American. Like, that's just kind of a bummer. It kind of kills the whole team atmosphere, to me.
Pegula certainly wouldn't mind the event transformed into a team event as she feels it would go along better with the general feel of the Olympics. When pressed about it, she just described it as a weird thing: players from the same country playing against each other at the Olympic Games.
I think [a team format] would just be more fun to me, and it brings more of the Olympic atmosphere to it. It's weird when you can still play each other. To me, that's just bizarre.
I don't know. It would be weird playing each other for such a big moment and having the same coaches or the same team with you the entire week to me is weird. I would love if it changed to more of a team aspect.
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