South Raleigh News

PARIS, France – Former Wolfpack women's tennis star Diana Shnaider added Olympic medalist to her resume after claiming silver in the women's doubles competition at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Shnaider, alongside her doubles partner Mirra Andreeva (AIN), fell to the third-seeded pair of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini (ITA) in a three-set tiebreak 6-2, 1-6, (7-10).

Shnaider entered the Olympic games as the first tennis player from NC State women's tennis to appear in the games and is now the first NC State tennis player to win an Olympic medal.

On their way to silver, Shnaider and Andreeva eliminated the second-seeded pairing of Katerina Siniakova and Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic — the Tokyo Olympics champions — in the quarterfinals. In the semifinals, they beat the eighth-seeded team of Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo of Spain 6-1, 6-2.

Shnaider becomes the third former NC State athlete to bring home an Olympic medal from Paris, joining Ryan Held, who won gold in swimming in the men's 4x100m freestyle relay, and Katharine Berkoff, who brought home bronze in the 100 backstroke and gold in the women's 100m medley relay.

Following a successful freshman season at NC State, during which she won ACC Freshman of The Year and helped guide the Wolfpack to their first-ever ACC Championship and first-ever appearance in the National Championship, Shnaider has continued her success on the pro tour.

She is ranked 24th on the WTA Tour and has three singles titles: Hua Hin, Budapest, and Bad Homburg.

Shnaider and Andreeva competed as Individual Neutral Athletes (AIN). Athletes with Belarusian or Russian passports were confirmed as eligible and invited to compete at the Olympic Games Paris 2024. The AIN quotas were determined on field through existing qualification competitions and specific eligibility requirements of International Federations.