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How Donna Vekić defied injury and surface struggles to take tennis silver

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Croatia’s women’s singles medallist speaks to Olympics.com a year on from her historic podium finish at Paris 2024.

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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.”

“That was the most incredible week of my life, the best achievement of my career by far. Staying in the [Olympic] Village with all the other athletes, having my family there in the semis and finals, it was really special.”

Both the medal and scrunchie sit proudly in her apartment in Monte Carlo, with little proving more meaningful to the 29-year-old than the Olympic silver, Croatia’s first medal in Olympic women’s singles tennis history.

Donna Vekić, adapting to clay for Olympic silver

Sport has always been in Vekić’s blood, born to a football-playing father and a hurdler mother, she hit a tennis ball for the first time at the age of six.

With four WTA career titles, the Osijek native had never reached a final on clay before Paris 2024. By her own admission, she is not fond of the red surface – “I’m not the biggest fan of clay, so it always feels good coming back on grass,” she admits.

Arriving in Paris after a maiden Grand Slam semi-final appearance at Wimbledon 2024, Vekić had only once made it into the second week of the clay major at Roland-Garros, where Olympic tennis was held.

Vekić explains, “After having such a good run at Wimbledon I had a lot of confidence going to the Olympics. I was very tired and not thinking too much, just playing my game. Every time before the clay season starts, I always [ask], ‘Okay, what can I change, what can I add?’, I’m overthinking and then I lose my head a little bit.”

Then suddenly, everything clicked. The Croatian overcame former US Open champion Bianca Andreescu before stunning second seed and another Grand Slam winner in Coco Gauff in the third round. Though played on Court Philippe-Chatrier, this was not an extension of the French Open by any means.

“The conditions were a little bit different than Roland-Garros,” the silver medallist explains of how the clay conditions benefitted her. “It was a lot warmer, the balls were different, everything helped a little – and playing for your country it’s different as well.”

Vekić will be 32 by the time of the next Games in LA 2028, still three years away. “That’s very far, let’s see about LA,” she responds to the possibility of competing at a third Olympic Games, having debuted at Tokyo 2020 back in 2021.

She knows that she will be even more invested in her fashion endeavours by then, from the Olympic flame to her own flame. “I have my own brand of candles and diffusers,” she concludes, “I don’t have a lot of time for that, but it’s something I’ll definitely focus on after my career.”

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Paige Spiranac’s surprising NFL fandom confession triggers heated debate over loyalty, authenticity, and fan culture

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The 2026 NFL Draft starts Thursday night in Pittsburgh, and the spotlight isn’t only on prospects and front offices. Golf influencer Paige Spiranac has again found herself pulled into NFL conversation, this time for her open support of multiple teams.

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With the Steelers hosting the first round, her long-standing connection to Pittsburgh has resurfaced. But it’s not just about hometown ties. Her broader fandom, which stretches beyond one franchise, continues to draw mixed reactions at a time when fan loyalty is often treated as non-negotiable.

Paige Spiranac roots for 2 NFL teams: Who are they?

Paige Spiranac has never hidden where her loyalties lie, even if they don’t fit the usual mold. She has consistently pointed to her roots while leaving space for other allegiances.

“Both my parents are from Pittsburgh so I’ve been a Steelers ..fan since the day I was born. I also love the Bills. It’s a complicated relationship…Who’s your team?” she previously asked her followers. It’s a candid admission, one that reflects personal history more than calculated fandom.

Still, the reaction has been sharp. NFL culture tends to rew ..

 

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Quiet moments on the course can say a lot about what’s coming next.

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Sometimes the most important work happens when nobody is really watching.
Lexi Thompson was out on the 18th green, working through her putting during a practice round ahead of the Chevron Championship in Houston.

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It’s a simple scene, but it shows the kind of quiet preparation that goes into these big tournaments—getting the feel of the greens, adjusting to conditions, and building trust in every stroke.

These are the small details that can shape how a player starts when the pressure kicks in.

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Predicting what will happen to Bryson DeChambeau and Phil Mickelson if LIV Golf collapses

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It looks like LIV Golf is over.

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The Saudi Public Investment Fund has reportedly decided that this league simply isn’t worth the hole it’s burning in their pocket, and they’re pulling funds at the end of 2026.

That gives them less than a year to seek new investment. While CEO Scott O’Neil seems confident, it’s going to be extremely difficult to secure funding for a league that is operating at such eye-watering losses.

So this probably pulls the curtain closed on one of the most turbulent, frustrating, confusing, and ridiculous eras in golfing history. Hopefully, we can all return to some reality after the year is over.

But there is still so much uncertainty surrounding golf’s future thanks to this. Brooks Koepka and Patrick Reed saw the signs early and jumped ship, but they did that with some leverage. So what on earth is going to happen to the rest of these players who didn’t take the olive branch when it was offered to them?

Feelings will be hurt, and careers will be ended. Let’s take a look.

Jon Rahm rejoins the PGA Tour

Koepka returned to the PGA Tour under the returning member program, which saw him pay $5 million to charity, accept that he’ll receive no FedEx Cup bonus money, and agree he cannot be a sponsor exemption for the 2026 signature events.

 

That same deal was offered to Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau. They didn’t accept it, but a similar offer will likely be handed out to them again.

 

If LIV Golf folds, Rahm will not hold the same leverage as Koepka did, but he is a bigger star at this stage of his career. Make no mistake, the PGA Tour will want him back immediately.

But Rahm does risk leaving himself without any options at all. Reed didn’t come straight back to the PGA Tour, so he’s spending a year on the DP World Tour first. You’d imagine Rahm would consider doing the same, but it might not be so easy for him.

Rahm is in a feud with the DP World Tour, as the only one of eight players to reject a deal which would have seen him retain his full-time membership. If Rahm agreed to play in six DP World Tour events this year, then he could have played on both LIV Golf and the tour. He did not agree.

For now, his membership is at risk. So, will it be possible for him to spend a season on the DP World Tour like Reed? Maybe not. That makes it all the more likely that Rahm will be back on the PGA Tour the moment LIV folds.

Bryson DeChambeau does YouTube full-time

With DeChambeau, I don’t think it’s as much of a done deal that he returns to the PGA Tour. Not immediately anyway.

He’s been negotiating his contract with LIV, which expires at the end of this season. During these negotiations, he’s made it very clear that he is completely willing to step away from full-time competition and be a full-time YouTuber.

DeChambeau’s channel has over two million subscribers, so he could feasibly do that with all of the money he’s making there.

He was annoyed to see LIV move to a four-day format, so he could commit himself fully to being the content king. It would be a wild thing to do, but it’s also exactly the kind of move you could see the two-time major winner making.

He could qualify for The Open Championship and the US Open, and earn enough points there to play The Masters and the PGA Championship. It’s possible.

He does seem to live for competition, so maybe YouTube won’t quite scratch the itch, but it is on the table for DeChambeau. At least for a year until his suspension expires. Out of Rahm and DeChambeau, the American is absolutely the least likely to take a deal.

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