Exclusive: How Donna Vekić defied injury and surface struggles to take tennis silver at Paris 2024

Donna Vekić has two special souvenirs from Paris 2024: her Olympic silver medal, and her scrunchie.

The Croatian tennis player had to overcome countless hurdles in the buildup to last year’s Olympic Games, suffering from so much physical discomfort that she contemplated pulling out.

Vekić candidly remembers her illness in the buildup to Paris, where she endured pain in both her arm and ankle. Even her initial flight to the French capital was cancelled, which delayed preparations for the tournament and being able to adapt to the clay.

Despite everything, the 13th seed reached the gold medal match at Roland-Garros, coming away with the silver medal after defeat to Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen.

“I have the scrunchie that I wore in the final,” Vekić tells Olympics.com of her keepsakes from her successful Games a year ago. “That's the first thing that comes to my mind. I have a lot of merchandise at home from Paris."

Click here to read article