Serena Williams, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, will not be playing at this summer's Olympic Games in Tokyo. Williams confirmed she would not play on Sunday at a pre-Wimbledon press conference.
"I'm actually not on the Olympic list -- not that I'm aware of. If so, then I shouldn't be on it," Williams told reporters.
Williams has three gold medals in women's doubles, winning them with her sister, Venus Williams, in 2000, 2008 and 2012. The pair was upset in the first round at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro. Serena Williams also won gold in women's singles in 2012, beating Maria Sharapova in the final.
The 39-year-old American did not elaborate on her decision to skip the delayed Tokyo Games.
"There's a lot of reasons that I made my Olympic decision. I don't feel like going into them today. Maybe another day. Sorry," Williams said.
The 2020 Olympics were delayed a year by the coronavirus pandemic and are set to begin on July 23.
Williams will be looking for her eighth Wimbledon title in the coming weeks and her first since 2016. Williams has 23 women's Grand Slam singles titles and is one behind Margaret Court for the most all time. Her last Grand Slam singles win came at the 2017 Australian Open.
