'We'll be stronger than ever in 2021' - Naomi Osaka

Video Credit: Reuters - Sports
Published on March 28, 2020 - Duration: 03:22s

'We'll be stronger than ever in 2021' - Naomi Osaka

Japan's tennis star and poster girl for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics Naomi Osaka shows her support for the postponement of the Games.


'We'll be stronger than ever in 2021' - Naomi Osaka

SHOWS: INTERNET (MARCH 28, 2020) (SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE - ACCESS ALL) (MUTE) 1.

SCREENSHOT OF TWEET FROM NAOMI OSAKA SUPPORTING THE DECISION TO POSTPONE THE 2020 OLYMPIC GAMES IN TOKYO UNKNOWN LOCATION (UNKNOWN DATE) (TOKYO 2020 - MUST COURTESY TOKYO 2020) (MUSIC) 2.

PROMOTIONAL VIDEO FOR TOKYO 2020 GAMES MOTTO, INCLUDING OSAKA WALKING AMONGST FANS HEADING TOWARDS NATIONAL STADIUM / OSAKA SAYING (English): "In this age where we so often connect without ever actually meeting, we'll gather in Tokyo from all over the world.

So many nationalities.

So many ethnicities.

People of every shape and size and gender.

Young and old coming together in a community of astounding diversity.

Together we'll witness athletes - their physicality, their competitive spirit, their courage.

We'll root them on, together.

And we will be moved, laughing and crying together.

We are each different, and all so much the same.

And in these moments, we experience and these emotions we share, we change what we can imagine together.

We find what we need to go beyond what separates us.

Coming together now, we learn how to live together tomorrow.

We are... United by Emotion." SINGAPORE (FILE - OCTOBER 20, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 3.

VARIOUS OF OSAKA PRACTISING AHEAD OF THE WTA FINALS MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA (FILE - JANUARY 27, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 4.

OSAKA POSING WITH THE AUSTRALIAN OPEN TROPHY, HER SECOND SUCCESSIVE GRAND SLAM TITLE NEW YORK, NEW YORK, UNITED STATES (FILE - SEPTEMBER 9, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 5.

VARIOUS OF OSAKA POSING WITH THE U.S. OPEN TROPHY AFTER WINNING HER MAIDEN GRAND SLAM TITLE TOKYO, JAPAN (FILE - SEPTEMBER 13, 2018) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 6.

OSAKA ARRIVING FOR A NISSAN SPONSORSHIP EVENT AND RECEIVING A BOUQUET OF FLOWERS 7.

VARIOUS OF OSAKA PLAYING TENNIS AS EVENT 8.

OSAKA POSING FOR PHOTOS HAVING RECEIVED A TENNIS RACKET STORY: Japanese tennis player Naomi Osaka, the poster girl of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, took to social media on Saturday (March 28) to show her support for the decision to postpone the Games until next year.

Osaka, who won the U.S. Open in 2018 and the Australian Open in 2019, was the central character in the video to launch Tokyo 2020's official motto for the Games, launched last month.

The coronavirus has since spread across the world, however, leading to last week's decision by the Japanese government and International Olympic Committee to postpone the Games.

"Everyone knows how much the Olympics means to me and how proud I will be to participate in my home country," Osaka, the world number 10, wrote on Twitter.

"Of course, I am disappointed that it won't happen this year but we'll all be ready to stronger ever in 2021!

I support Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's brave decision and the IOC 100%.

"Sport will eventually unite us again and be there for us always, but that time not now," the 22-year-old added.

"This is the time for people from all countries, backgrounds and races to rally together to save as many lives as we can.

To me, that is the Olympic spirit." "To the people of Japan: stay strong, hang in there, and let's the show the world our beautiful country when time is right in 2021." Osaka, the first Asian to be ranked world number one, concluded with a message for her 500,000 plus Twitter followers.

"Stay safe everyone, take care of each other, be kind and we will make it through.

Love, Naomi." Osaka, who was born in Japan to a Haitian father and Japanese mother before being raised in the United States, was chosen to lead Tokyo 2020's "United by Emotion" motto as the face of a changing country.

Japan, which has traditionally seen itself as a racially homogeneous country, is becoming more ethnically diverse and Osaka has been at the forefront of a new wave of sporting heroes set to represent the host nation at the Olympics.

Coronavirus infections in Japan have climbed to more than 1,400, with 47 deaths.

(Production: Jack Tarrant, Stef Haskins)

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