“She is an inspiration,” Chloe Kim hails Naomi Osaka for being the pioneer toward mental health awareness
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Chloe Kim and Naomi Osaka
Naomi Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, missed the 2022 Wimbledon Championship after the ATP’s decision not to award any ranking points. She faced an early first-round exit at the 2022 French Open and third round exit at the 2022 Australian Open by losing to Amanda Anisimova in both tournaments. She became the first-ever Japanese player to win a Grand Slam title at the 2018 US Open.
Naomi Osaka, during the 2021 Roland Garros, refused to attend any press conferences after her win in the opening match, even though she could be fined for it. She subsequently announced her withdrawal from the tournament due to her mental health issues. She has always been front about it and believes that mental health is equally important as much as physical health.
“Naomi Osaka did what she felt right and was the best for her”: Chloe Kim
Chloe Kim became the youngest woman to win an Olympic medal in snowboarding after she won the gold medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. She also won two more gold medals at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. She was also featured in the ‘TIMES 100 Most Influential People of 2018‘. But just after her success at the Olympics, Kim announced her break from the 2022-2023 snowboarding season to focus on her mental health.
Chloe Kim gave the credit to Naomi Osaka for being so open and upfront about her mental health issues which nobody talks of and shying away from such discussions. In an interview, Kim spoke about how the Japanese star did not fear anyone when she decided to take some time off to focus on herself and do what felt for her. She added that “I got that inspiration from Naomi Osaka. But seeing other high-level athletes coming out and speaking about their struggles, was very inspirational for me and I felt how big an impact I made. So, it was important for me to speak about it as well“.
She further spoke, “I think speaking about mental health is really important because a lot of people experience it and we need to make it so that people feel comfortable speaking about their struggles and seeking help because, I mean, I needed help“.
Naomi Osaka is set to return to the hard court season at the 2022 US Open which starts next month.
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