Fake news about Novak Djokovic being censored by mainstream media for his explicit display of Christian faith on the court goes viral
A recent post claiming that the media censored Novak Djokovic due to his outward display of Christian faith has gone viral on X. It was posted by a fan account of former US President Donald Trump, who is currently contesting the 2024 presidential elections.
Djokovic fulfilled his last remaining professional goal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he finally got his hands on the gold medal. The Serb secured the top prize after bettering Spain's Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (3), 7-6 (2) in a scintillating gold medal men's singles match on August 4.
After winning the match, Djokovic wept tears of joy and relief. He kissed the clay court at Stade Roland Garros, made the sign of the cross, and pointed to the heavens. The video of Djokovic celebrating his Paris Olympics triumph once again went viral on social media platform X after it was posted on October 25.
The post claimed that "mainstream media" censored the 37-year-old's celebration video because he was portraying Christian faith.
"Novak Djokovic made the sign of the cross and thanked God on his knees after his victory. The mainstream media censored this! Let's make it go VIRAL!" the video was captioned.
The post has attracted over 2.5 million views and 136,000 likes at the time of writing.
"Biggest sporting success I've ever had" - Novak Djokovic on Paris Olympics gold
Novak Djokovic dubbed his gold medal triumph at the Paris Olympics his greatest achievement. Despite winning the most Grand Slams in tennis history (24), reigning as World No. 1 for the longest period of time (428 weeks), and being the only man to achieve the Career Grand Slam (winning every Major) thrice, the 37-year-old believed that the gold medal was a notch above everything else.
In his interview after the Paris Olympics finals, the former World No. 1 looked back at his Olympic history. He won the singles bronze medal in 2008 and fell in the semifinals in 2012 and 2020. As such, clinching the gold medal at his age, against a much younger opponent, filled the Serb with immense pride.
"I won the bronze in my first Olympic Games (2008) and ever since then failed to win the medal and played three out of four Olympic Games in semi-finals and couldn't overcome that obstacle. And then now at age 37, with a 21-year-old that is probably the best player in the world right now, winning Roland Garros and Wimbledon back-to-back and playing incredible tennis. When I take everything into consideration, this probably is the biggest sporting success I've ever had in my career," he told reporters.
The man from Belgrade was the top seed in men's singles at the 2024 Paris Olympics. He bettered Australia's Matt Ebden, Spain's Rafael Nadal, Germany's Dominik Koepfer, Greece's Stefanos Tsitsipas, Italy's Lorenzo Musetti, and Spain's Carlos Alcaraz en route to the title.