Baton Rouge—Former LSU Tennis All-American, Michael Venus, placed third and took home bronze at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics on Friday morning.
Venus and his partner, Marcus Daniell, represented New Zealand in men’s doubles. The ‘Kiwis’ defeated the American duo of Austin Krajicek and Tennys Sandgren, 7-6 6-2, on Court 1 at the Ariake Tennis Centre in the bronze medal match.
Venus was the first LSU Tennis alum to compete in the Olympics when he participated in the 2016 Rio Olympics. Now, he is the first LSU Tennis alum to medal at the Olympics. Venus also broke a 109-year drought for tennis in New Zealand, being the first athlete representing New Zealand to medal in Tennis since 1912.
“I think I’m still in shock, I’ve been crying for the last 20 minutes and Mike [Venus] been laughing at me,” Daniell said following the match.
Venus attended LSU from 2006-09 and is one of the most accomplished LSU Tennis members. In 2009, he was named the Louisiana Player of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, First-Team All-SEC, and was an ITA Singles & Doubles All-American.
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