Naomi Osaka has been an indirect advocate when it comes to discussing mental health openly in tennis. Last year, Osaka decided to skip the pressers at Roland Garros and sparked a huge debate surrounding athletes’ mental well-being.

Naomi Osaka opens up about the pressure faced by athletes from other sports

While there were few who believed that high-performance athletes must overcome the pressure and deliver every single time, many sympathized with Osaka and this led to other players openly talking about the same. At the Indian Wells press conference, the four-time Grand Slam champion was asked about the pressure faced by athletes from other sports whose only chance at glory is at the Olympics.

“For me, I feel for other sports. Mainly because, in tennis, it’s kind of like a consistent, like you get chances. And I, watching the olympics, I always think, like, this is it for them every four years. So, I can’t imagine the type of pressure that they have to deal with just knowing that, like, you know, they want to get that gold or they feel like they need a medal.”

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The Japanese player sympathized with the athletes and expressed that she can understand the pressure can get to them. She responded to the question in reference to Kamila Valieva, a 15-year-old free skating athlete from Russia.

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Shortly before the women’s skating event at Winter Olympics, she tested positive for banned heart medicine. Valieva, who was a huge favorite to win the gold medal, was initially suspended by the Russian authorities. They lifted it later but the International Olympic Committee(IOC) appealed to reinstate the same.

Teenager Kamila Valieva broke down in tears at Winter Olympics 2022

Amidst these circumstances and the intense scrutiny from the media, the pressure got to Valieva as she couldn’t perform to her expectations and didn’t make it to the coveted podium. The teenage star broke down in tears following a disappointing performance and it didn’t go well with scores of fans. They felt bad for Kamila as well who tried to show up and gave her best despite the happenings outside.

It’s extremely vital that players like Naomi Osaka and others are speaking up about their own problems when it comes to mental health as this will certainly pave the way for future youngsters to openly cite mental well-being as a reason for not opting to play a tournament.

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