Coco Gauff has said that sports are huge in Black culture and mentioned the Williams sisters as inspirations in her comments.
The 19-year-old is a huge sporting star in her own right. That fact was put beyond any reasonable doubt when she won last year's US Open to secure her first Grand Slam title.
Her achievements have led to wider recognition of the American. For example, Gauff was one of those nominated for the 2024 Laureus Sports Awards. Novak Djokovic and Iga Swiatek were the other two tennis players nominated.
This greater profile means she has to answer more questions about her off-court activities. For instance, Gauff recently responded to criticism of her off-court photoshoots despite how much she entertains fans on-court.
Gauff is unquestionably a great role model. As an athlete, she recently discussed with the WTA Insider how important sports are to Black culture and how they have helped people escape difficult circumstances.
"Just sports. It's just a huge thing in our culture really, sports. It's been an escape for so many people in urban communities and poor communities to escape the circumstances they were given."
The teenage sensation then named four fellow athletes who are inspirational and represent examples of individuals who made something amazing out of nothing.
"If you look just at individual athlete stories like LeBron James, Michael Jordan, even Serena and Venus, and their lives and how they were able to make something great out of nothing. It's pretty inspiring."
Gauff then applied an even wider perspective. She feels sports is the key to the world because of how widely sports are played across continents in all countries.
"I think sports is the key to the world because all cultures and all countries pretty much participate in sports. So, if you look at, not even just black athletes but just athletes in general, you see so many stories."
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