Coco Gauff, the American tennis sensation known for her lightning-fast footwork and exceptional defensive skills, recently reflected on her first Olympic experience and what could have been if she had pursued a different sport in which she excelled during her childhood.
While Gauff is currently making waves on the WTA tour, it turns out that track and field could have been her calling. Her mother, Candi Gauff, a former track and field athlete at Florida State University, recognized Coco’s natural talent for the sport from a young age. After mingling with Team USA’s elite track and field stars at the Paris Olympics, Coco found herself pondering the road not taken.
“I don’t know if I would have been as dominant in track as I am in tennis, but I truly believe that with proper training, I could have become an Olympian,” Gauff revealed after a victorious match at the National Bank Open.
Despite never attending a track practice in middle school, Coco excelled in races, winning all but two – both losses coming against the same formidable opponent. This success led her to believe that track could have been her path to greatness.
According to Coco, her mother believes she would have shone in the 400-meter event. And she’s not alone in that assessment. A gold medalist whom Gauff met in Paris, Noah Lyles, envisioned her as a 400m hurdler, though Coco admitted her fear of hurdles might have held her back from pursuing that specific event.
While hurdles may not be her forte, Gauff is confident that distances of 400 meters or longer would have suited her perfectly. The tantalizing prospect of what could have been lingers in the air as Coco Gauff continues to dazzle on the tennis court, leaving fans to wonder about the alternate reality in which she traded her racket for track spikes.
