Jessica Pegula crossed paths with decorated Olympic gymnast Simone Biles during her time at the Paris Games. And the 30-year-old has recalled her experiences in France after failing to progress beyond the second round in the tennis singles and doubles.
Pegula succumbed to Ukraine ace Elina Svitolina in her second match of the singles after getting the better of Switzerland’s Viktorija Golubic in her opening encounter.
The star also teamed up with Coco Gauff in the doubles as the duo were dumped out by Czech pair Linda Noskova and Karolína Muchova in their second match.
Despite an underwhelming Olympics campaign, Pegula appeared to enjoy her time in the French capital.
And she told the Tennis Channel: “We did not have time to go see anybody, but we met a lot of people at the village. Katie Ledecky was super nice. Simone, Sha’Carri Richardson was really, really sweet – super talkative and nice – so, yeah, we got to meet a few athletes.
“And then people from totally different sports that we had no idea. We met couple of Irish rugby players, women, that was cool. We met Ilona Maher, she was really funny. Like, such a personality – exactly like you seen on her content.”
The Olympics provided spectators with plenty of entertainment, with a whole host of sports on show throughout the three weeks.
And Pegula appeared to be particularly enthused by the track events, with Team USA winning 34 medals in athletics, as she teased a career change.
“Officially sad the Olympics is over,” Pegula wrote on X a week ago. “The social media content was unmatched and I want to come back in my next life as a track girl.”
The blockbuster star then went on to address her disappointing performance at the Games after clinching the Canadian Open title earlier this month.
She explained in a press conference: “I couldn’t perform as I would have liked, but it was fun to spend time with the rest of the team. Everything was chaotic – we went out of the village to have dinner and we had to walk a lot because the traffic was jammed.”
Biles, meanwhile, was in formidable form at the Olympics as she picked up three gold medals and a silver. And after claiming the silverware, the 27-year-old said: “I’ve accomplished way more than my wildest dreams, not just as this Olympics, but in this sport. I can’t be mad at my performances. A couple of years ago I didn’t think I’d be back here at an Olympic game.”
