"He said to my dad like, 'Don't send that girl after me!'"- Venus Williams on how good she used to be in running before taking up tennis
Venus Williams recently revealed how good she was at running before she started playing tennis. The seven-time Grand Slam champion has a YouTube channel where she frequently uploads videos and in a recent video, the older Williams sister was seen conversing with her coach Eric Hechtman on a variety of topics.
Williams highlighted in the video how good a runner she was before deciding to play tennis, claiming that she was "fast as hell". Additionally, she described how she once beat an adult at running while practicing at Compton College, and how the guy urged her father not to send her after him again, a testament to her athletic prowess even at such a young age.
"I was fast; I think my fastest time the 200 was 36 seconds at 10 years old. I remember like being an adult I was at the Stanford tournament and like I couldn't even get around that track; you know, two minutes, I was like, how did I do this at 10 years old? [It was] as fast as hell like it's crazy fast," Williams said.
"I would just like outrun adults. I remember we used to practice at like Compton College and there was this guy who was like known as a fast runner. My dad was like go catch that guy and I outran him and he got so mad he said my dad like 'Don't send that girl after me again,'" she added.
"So important for women and men to step up and say, I see this, I want to do something about it" - Venus Williams on closing the wage gap
Venus Williams, the founder of EleVen and V Starr Interiors, recently spoke with Entrepreneur about what it takes to be successful both on and off the court, giving her thoughts on how to build the right team on the way to success.
"It's all the same, you have to plan ahead, you have to prepare, you have to set goals, you have to reevaluate when it doesn't work out. You have to build the right team, to see the work that our team can produce and for us to succeed together, it's such a great feeling."
The 42-year-old also discussed the challenges that women in the business confront. Williams mentioned closing the wage gap in particular, which she thinks needs to happen sooner rather than later.
"There's a lot of work to be done, and it's so important for women and men to step up and put their hands up and say, 'I see this. I want to do something about it," Venus Williams said.
"When you leave the United States that gap gets wider. If we keep up this pace, maybe in the next 100 years we'll be able to bridge that gap, but we need to bridge it sooner," she added.