Tennis superstar and two-time Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka says she is disappointed that the Olympics in her native Japan has been postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic.
In a social media post she shared over the weekend, Naomi said,
"Been thinking about how to articulate my thoughts on this for a couple of days now."
The IOC, IPC and the Tokyo organising committee decided to postpone the games until next summer, but this week; it was announced that Tokyo opening ceremony would take place on July 23, 2021 - almost exactly one year after the games were due to start.
"Sport will eventually unite us again and be there for us always, but that time is not now."
She also addressed the people of Japan, where she was born, saying, "stay strong, hang in there and let's show the world our beautiful country when the time is right."
Naomi Osaka won the 2018 US Open and 2019 Australian Open, and she became the first player from Asia to reach number one in the singles rankings. Naomi is tipped to be the most-watched athlete during the Tokyo 2021 as will be representing the host country Japan and is also a medal contender for the Tokyo games 2021.