It remains to be seen whether more players will follow Osaka’s approach, but her stance was applauded by other athletes.
British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith said it was “very correct” and that while there are “lots of excellent journalists doing incredible work”, some are “trying to find, and sometimes create, cracks in your psychology. .
“Some are trying to start a storm by using your name on a random topic and that is not acceptable,” she wrote in a lengthy post. on Twitter., external
“Who defends the mental health of athletes in these situations?
“It’s anxiety-inducing to sit there and have to constantly pray silently that there’s no room for ambiguity in the answer you just gave, just in case someone decides to take it out of context and describing it differently for ‘clickbait’ – which could obviously cause enormous damage to your reputation and career.”
Australian Grand Slam doubles champion Rennae Stubbs, who now works as a commentator, wrote: “For someone who now works in media and knows how important quotes and soundbites are, I was also a player, with feelings!
“This decision by Naomi is truly an incredible moment for the media to LISTEN to these players and understand how difficult it is for many of them to do better and improve!”
