Serena Williams has hit back at critics over her exuberant Olympic celebrations that featured a Crip Walk dance.
Two days before the start of the US Open, Williams was testy with reporters, agitated by repeated references to her post-match dance in London.
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She said that she was unaware of the negative comments about the so-called Crip Walk that she performed after winning the gold medal at the London Games.
“I read zero press. That has been my policy since I was 17,” Stuff.co.nz quoted her as saying.
“I don’t know what was made too much of or whether it was too little. I think winning the Olympics was awesome for me and for the USA.
“I’m still kind of in the Olympic moment. I love the Olympics. I was just so proud of the final tally of gold medals that I contributed to. It was really awesome,” she said.
The Crip Walk is a hip-hop dance that was made famous by Crip gang members in Compton, California, in the 70’s.
“First of all, it was just a dance. I didn’t know that’s what it was called. Second, why are you asking me that?
“Like that’s so - I mean, if anything you should be trying to ask me questions to lift me up, not bring up such things. I’m done with that question,” she said.
On the heels of her victories at Wimbledon and the Olympic Games, Williams is widely seen as the favourite to win US Open.