"Athletes Are Taught to 'Win at All Costs' at Expense of More Important Things" - Osaka

Naomi Osaka has critiqued the way athletes are brought up and encouraged to make important sacrifices for success in their field.

This comes as just last year, the Japanese player was fined $15,000 for abstaining from post-match interviews at the French Open. Following that, she withdrew from the tournament.

This was in the name of her mental health, which she said she needed to prioritize. She also took time away from the sport in order to focus on her mental well-being.

One could certainly call Osaka a trailblazer in a sense, bringing much more attention to the human side of sports. Very often, people are fed the narrative that athletes are machines whose only focus is winning.

When speaking to 'Dazed' magazine, Osaka made sure to reinforce the reality that this is simply not the case and that sportsmen and women need to be treated as more normal human beings.

Reflecting back on her ground-breaking decision to withdraw from Roland Garros, Osaka believes it was at this moment that she fully realized that she had the power to potentially influence a positive change.

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Osaka added that she's unfazed by the criticism she often receives for using her platform for issues outside of sports.

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