Serena Williams of the United States of America competes against Maria Sharapova of Russia during the gold medal match of the Women's Singles Tennis on Day 8 of the London 2012 Olympic Games at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club on August 4, 2012 in London, England. (Photo by Clive Brunskill/Getty Images)
LONDON (AP) — A day after completing a career Golden Slam, Serena Williams still wants more.
Williams was already thinking about defending her Olympic tennis gold medal at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games only hours after teaming with big sister Venus to win the doubles gold for the third time.
“I plan on being there unless an act of god doesn’t allow me to,” Williams said Monday.
The 14-time Grand Slam singles champion, who shares the tennis record of four Olympic golds with Venus, has recovered from some health issues that sidelined her for 14 months.
“When I feel I can’t be the greatest I shouldn’t play anymore, but I feel I belong. I’m not tired. I’m enjoying myself,” said the 30-year-old Williams, who broke into a “Crip Walk” dance after beating Maria Sharapova to add the Olympic singles gold to her titles at each of the four tennis majors.
“I was so happy to just win. I’ve been so out of it the last years, (and from) where I was to come back and win this is just an amazing thing for me, for all the hard work I’ve been doing,” Williams added. “When I get happy, I dance.”
Now that the gold rush is over, the fourth-ranked player plans to add a few more Olympic pins to her growing collection and take in some of the atmosphere at the London Games before playing in Cincinnati, her last tournament before the U.S. Open later this month.
“I never go outside (during the Olympics). I never venture too much,” Williams said. “I can’t get too crazy, so now that I have time to relax maybe I have some time to do more.”
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Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
