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Naomi Osaka Australian Open 2021
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Naomi Osaka hesitant about Olympics staging: ‘It definitely should be a discussion’


Naomi Osaka has opened up about her ambivalence around the Tokyo Olympics going ahead this summer. 

Naomi Osaka is not 100% behind the Olympics going ahead this summer, expressing as much in her recent thoughts on the matter.

“Of course I would say I want the Olympics to happen,” Osaka told reporters ahead of the Italian Open. “Because, I’m an athlete and that’s sort of what I’ve been waiting for my entire life.

“But I think that there’s so much important stuff going on, and especially the past year,” the Japanese star continued.

“I think a lot of unexpected things have happened and if it’s putting people at risk, and if it’s making people very uncomfortable, then it definitely should be a discussion, which I think it is as of right now.”

The Tokyo Olympics have already been postponed once from last summer, but opponents to its delayed holding this year seems to be growing. In addition, only a small portion of the Japanese population has thus far been vaccinated against Covid-19.

“At the end of the day I’m just an athlete and there’s a whole pandemic going on,” Osaka admitted.

“I feel like whatever makes everyone more comfortable and more safe. There’s going to be a lot of people entering the country, so they definitely have to make the right decisions on that.

“I’ve gotten vaccinated. At the end of the day you can’t force anyone to be vaccinated.”

The world No. 2 end on this note:

“If you’re going into the Olympics and whatever, make the host country happy.”


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