Naomi Osaka: relentless spirit & flamboyant sport

Naomi Osaka, 22-year old tennis star, is pushing the boundaries to further her journey. Besides being the highest paid female athlete according to latest Forbes list, she is the champion of human rights and stands by the principles of human dignity.

 Osaka was among the first sports celebrities to raise a voice in the solidarity of Black Lives Matter movement. Flying to Minneapolis, the largest and the most populous city in the US, and turning up for the protests to commemorate the unjust killing of George Floyd shows that Osaka is not just a tennis player, but a champion of human rights. During her US Open campaign, she wore seven different masks, each displaying the name of a black person who lost his life to the racial discrimination at the hands of the authorities. 

Osaka did not stop there. She stood inside Arthur Ashe Stadium, named after a Black player who spent much of his life fighting for the cause, and won her third Grand Slam title, showing those who doubted her pro-humanitarian ablilties and her sporting skills. Osaka, in her rigorous social media campaigns, highlighted and supported the organizations working for Black Lives Matter movement. She further urged her fans to understand empathize with the fact that in United States, it is difficult for a person of color to live a normal life. 

Playing a role of torch-bearer of human rights, Osaka made the sports relevant to issues that are infesting the globe. Osaka’s relentless dissent proves that sports do not build character, they reveal it. In fact, Naomi Osaka also withdrew from her semifinal clash at the Western & Southern Open to protest the shooting of Jacob Blake and other victims of police brutality. “Hello, as many of you are aware I was scheduled to play my semi-finals match tomorrow,” Osaka wrote in a statement on her social media accounts. “However, before I am an athlete, I am a black woman. 

And as a black woman I feel as though there are much more important matters at hand that need immediate attention, rather than watching me play tennis.

The Writer is a former Associate Professor of University of Delhi and a consultant at the Limca Book of Records