MATEO VALLES QUINTANA WRITES — Nobody can query her athletic achievements, however her actions off the court docket have introduced her much more media consideration.
Naomi Osaka, the 22-year-old Black and Japanese athlete who shortly grew to become one of many prime tennis gamers on this planet, has a outstanding WTA participant profile. At 20, she received her first Grand-Slam title on the 2018 U.S. Open. Following her second Grand-Slam title on the 2019 Australian Open she reached the world no.1 rating at 21 years of age. At the moment, she is ranked no. 3 on this planet.
She doesn’t shrink back from the political highlight. Following the dying of Breonna Taylor earlier this yr, Naomi wore seven totally different masks bearing the names of seven totally different victims of racial injustice throughout her warm-ups at this yr’s U.S. Open. A few months earlier than, she flew to Minneapolis to protest George Floyd’s dying on the very streets the place he took his final breath. Naomi has spoken out in opposition to racial injustice repeatedly with the hope of bringing information and consciousness to the problem.
One other subject she is passionate about-when it got here to what nation the younger athlete would play for within the Tokyo Olympics, she determined to surrender her U.S. citizenship and symbolize Japan. She is clearly not afraid to talk her thoughts and use her platform to carry consciousness to the problems she is most keen about.
In at this time’s society, athletes are roughly nationwide heroes. Naomi Osaka is the clearest instance of this. She has not waged a media stunt or advertising and marketing marketing campaign. That is merely a younger lady advocating for racial justice and a extra accepting world, who has entry to followers and critics worldwide. She needs to encourage and symbolize those that are marginalized, simply as she, a mixed- race athlete, has suffered.
There may be, although, a counter argument: That the job of the athlete is to play sports activities, to not touch upon politics or the state of our nation. That is an comprehensible viewpoint; Naomi herself gave one of the best rebuttal in an interview with WSJ Journal: “I hate when random folks say athletes shouldn’t get entangled with politics and simply entertain…Firstly, it is a human rights subject. Secondly, what offers you extra proper to talk than me? By that logic, in the event you work at Ikea you’re solely allowed to speak about [furniture]?”
Regardless of all of her accomplishments, her followers are most enthusiastic about her future. As a 22-year-old with three Grand Slam titles and a dedication to human rights, Naomi Osaka’s future is vibrant, each on and off the court docket.
