All About Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian's Daughter Olympia

2022-08-12 19:41:59 By : Mr. Alex SPARK

Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian aren't shy about sharing their daughter's cutest moments with the world.

Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., who goes by Olympia, was born on Sept. 1, 2017, in West Palm Beach, Florida. She got her own Instagram account when she was just a few weeks old, and her proud parents love to show off her most stylish moments, all of her talents (she's already playing tennis!) and her best twinning-with-mom photos.

Williams has always been honest about both her love for her daughter and her struggles with pregnancy and motherhood. The tennis star had a near-death experience during Olympia's birth — Williams' heart rate plummeted during labor so she had to have an emergency cesarean section.

When Olympia was 11 months old, Williams shared her feelings of mom guilt on Instagram. "I felt like I was not a good mom," she wrote. "It's totally normal to feel like I'm not doing enough for my baby. We have all been there. I work a lot, I train, and I'm trying to be the best athlete I can be. However, that means although I have been with her every day of my life, I'm not around as much as I would like to be."

In an interview with TIME, Williams revealed that motherhood had been "tough," saying, "Some days, I cry. I'm really sad. I've had meltdowns." She talked about her struggle with postpartum depression, too. "Sometimes she just wants Mommy, she doesn't want anyone else. I still have to learn a balance of being there for her and being there for me."

That said, Williams loves spending time with her daughter. "The last 2 years have been my greatest accomplishment," she wrote in an Instagram caption on Olympia's second birthday in 2019.

Here's everything there is to know about Serena Williams and Alexis Ohanian's daughter, Alexis Olympia.

Olympia's full name is Alexis Olympia Ohanian Jr., but her parents call her Olympia for short. In 2017, shortly after giving birth, Williams revealed that there was a special meaning behind Olympia's name. "Fun fact my daughters initials are AO as in the Aussie Open she won with me," Williams tweeted.

Williams won the Australian Open not long after finding out she was pregnant. During an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Ohanian said that after the Australian Open, both he and Williams believed they were having a girl. "[Serena] remarked that she feels like it has to be a girl because everything that that baby went through and handled like a champ, only a woman could be strong enough to take on," he said. "I was very lucky to be raised by a strong amazing mother, and I mean, she's got a good point."

The tennis champion might have an extremely busy schedule, but she makes sure to spend as much time as possible with her daughter. When Olympia was about a year old, Williams told PEOPLE that she made sure to see her daughter every single day.

"I have spent every day with Olympia since she was born, and one of the latest challenges has been her teething," Williams said, adding that it had been tough to find the right balance between being a mom, a tennis superstar and an entrepreneur.

Months later, Williams repeated the same sentiments to PEOPLE, saying, "I'm a super hands-on mom. I am with her every day since she was born. We haven't spent a day apart."

Even when Williams was working from home during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Olympia was by her side through it all. "I love to spend so much time with her … She's in every single call that I have, every single meeting," Williams told PEOPLE. "I feel like she's getting a little bit of it so she's going to be a really good businesswoman when this is all over."

It's clear from Williams' Instagram that the family of three cherish their time together.

One of the sweetest things about Williams and Olympia's relationship is how much they love to match. The two have repeatedly shown up in matching outfits in Instagram photos, on the red carpet and even on the court.

In January 2022, Williams posted a photo of herself and Olympia sitting back-to-back on the tennis court, wearing matching black and pink colorblocked Nike workout gear — the same look Williams wore to the Australian Open in 2021. "Next?" Williams captioned the photo.

In an Instagram video, Williams and Olympia danced together wearing matching blue floral dresses and later green ones. Williams captioned the post, "My forever bestie @olympiaohanian."

At the premiere of King Richard, the biopic starring Will Smith as Williams' father and coach Richard Williams, Serena and Olympia wore matching outfits to walk the red carpet with Ohanian. Williams wore a David Koma bodysuit with a heeled black, over-the-knee bejeweled boot, and Olympia wore crystal-covered tights and sparkly Mary Jane shoes.

Williams welcomed doll Qai Qai to the family in 2018, affectionately referring to her as Olympia's "daughter." Qai Qai even has an Instagram account.

Ohanian has spoken about the importance of Qai Qai in terms of representation. "[It] was really important to us … to make sure that Olympia had a Black baby doll," Ohanian told PEOPLE in 2021. "[To] have that be a very important first doll for her, if for no other reason than to just expose her to something that can hopefully break a cycle that we know exists."

In December 2021, Williams announced that she had written her first children's book, The Adventures of Qai Qai. She also teamed up with Invisible Universe to bring the doll to life in a YouTube series in which Taikirha Miller would voice the character. "Everyone needs to find their voice, and I'm happy Qai Qai found hers in Taikirha," Williams said. "Now that she's found her voice, the possibilities for the franchise are endless."

Olympia already has some hobbies of her own, including ballet! In May 2022, Ohanian shared a photo of Williams and himself holding Olympia after her dance recital. In the photo, Olympia wore a pink tutu, hair bow and ballet slippers. Her proud parents brought bouquets of flowers.

"First ballet recital for @olympiaohanian in the books 🙌 proud of you Junior!" Ohanian wrote.

Months earlier, Williams had shared an Instagram video of herself and Olympia wearing matching ballerina outfits. In the video, Olympia danced in front of the camera in a pink skirt and white top, while Williams wore a matching outfit in the background.

"I don't need to be in the camera," Williams said in the video. "You got too much pizazz, girl."

In January 2022, Olympia's Instagram account shared a video of the little one practicing her backhand on the court. "Practice makes progress," said the caption.

She's not learning from her mom, though. During an appearance on The Ellen DeGeneres Show, Williams said that she hired a private instructor to teach Olympia how to play tennis.

"I don't really like to play with people who don't know how to play tennis well. It drives me nuts," Williams explained. "So, I was like, 'I can't. I don't have the patience for this.' So I signed her up for a private teacher."

Though she isn't Olympia's primary coach, Williams has shared videos of herself practicing and playing with her daughter.

Music is another one of Olympia's many hobbies.

In September 2021, Williams shared a video of Olympia giving her mother a piano lesson. In the video, the Grand Slam champ sat next to her daughter at the piano while Olympia taught her what to do. "I teach her tennis … she teaches me piano," Williams wrote.

The tennis star also talked about her daughter's musical abilities during an interview with Jimmy Kimmel, who asked how seriously Olympia takes tennis. "She likes tennis, but I don't know. Honestly, she likes playing piano," Williams said. "When she was in my belly, I played a lot of piano music."

She also noted that Olympia was taking piano lessons. "And she's teaching me! Like, I'm not even kidding. I have a baby Mozart," Williams added. "Of course every parent thinks they have, like, a baby Beethoven or whatever."

Olympia loves to dress up and play around with clothes. At the 2021 Met Gala, her aunt Venus Williams joked to Access Hollywood, "She wears dresses all day every day, and insists on heels, so she'll be here next year. Next year she'll probably be chair."

The tiny style star even accompanied her mom to Paris Fashion Week, where she matched with Williams in hot pink Balmain dresses.

Olympia shares at least one hobby with her dad: gaming. In 2022, Williams revealed to PEOPLE that Olympia had been gaming recently. "Her dad's got her into VR [virtual reality]. Not sure how I feel about that," she said. "It's the founder of Reddit, so that kind of makes sense."

She added that she tries to limit Olympia's screen time. "I'm just like, 'No, let's do schooling and let's do this,' " she said. "Although I think gaming is super important because I played a lot of games growing up. But it's all balance. It's really all about balance. As long as you have that balance, I think it's okay."

At nearly 5 years old, Olympia landed her first Vogue cover alongside her mom. The mother-daughter duo posed on the beach, with Olympia, who was wearing a white dress, hugging the long train of Williams' blue Balenciaga gown.

The tennis legend also wrote a first-person essay for the publication and discussed motherhood and her plans to retire from the sport. "In five years, Olympia has only spent one 24-hour period away from me," wrote Williams. "This past year, while I was recovering from a hamstring injury, I got to pick her up from school four or five days a week, and I always looked forward to seeing her face light up when she walked out of the building and saw me waiting there for her. The fact is that nothing is a sacrifice for me when it comes to Olympia."

She also revealed she and Ohanian are "trying to have another child" — and Olympia can't wait to be a big sister. "We're in my car, and she's holding my phone, using an interactive educational app she likes. This robot voice asks her a question: What do you want to be when you grow up? She doesn't know I'm listening, but I can hear the answer she whispers into the phone. She says, 'I want to be a big sister.' "