Biles, Richardson, Osaka comebacks ‘bigger than them.’ They highlight issues facing Black women
PARIS — As Naomi Osaka lifts her racket on the red clay courts of Roland Garros during the Olympic Games in Paris Later this month, it will be more than just an exciting match for the tennis star.
For Osaka, a four-time Grand Slam champion, it is a significant step in her journey after returning to tennis earlier this year, after taking a break to prioritize her mental health and the birth of her daughter.
Osaka will join gymnastics icon Simone Biles and track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson on the Olympic podium. These Black female athletes at the height of their careers have spoken out about mental health, public criticism and other personal struggles. Osaka and Biles took time away from their respective sports to prioritize mental health, while Richardson returned to competition after a highly critical ban from track and field.
They have all returned to the world’s biggest stage, showing varying levels of vulnerability. Their stories, different yet similar, give viewers a unique perspective on black women.
“I always think about this: We’re not born with our sport,” Osaka recently told The Associated Press. “We’re born the same way as everyone else. I wasn’t born with a racket in my hand. We’re human beings first, and we’re athletes as a profession.”
That idea is often overlooked when it comes to Black female athletes, who exist at the intersection of racism and sexism, says Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sport management and director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport at the University of Michigan.
“It’s critical that they’re elevated in this way,” Armstrong said, “because I think it helps people reimagine what black women are and who they are.”
Bile withdrew from the all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Games to focus on her well-being after what she described as if she felt the “weight of the world” on her shoulders.
After a two-year hiatus, Biles, 27, proved to be as dominant in her return to the international stage in 2023 as she was at her first Olympics in 2016. She won the individual all-around title at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October and breezed through the U.S. Olympic qualifiers last month.
“Most athletes are programmed to win,” Armstrong said. “They’ve been winning their whole lives. And so in their sport, they often know how to take a day off. And I think what we’re seeing is them realizing that it’s OK to take a time out, even though life and sport intersect.”
Osaka and Biles’ return to the Olympics is important to create space for women who look like them and are willing to be just as vulnerable, said Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and clinical associate professor of history at Arizona State University. At the same time, it “forces the broader culture” to accept them for who they are, regardless of what they do in their sports.
Jackson said the trio’s journeys demonstrate a leadership quality that is innate to black women, who are often seen as invincible. As a result, they take on extra pressure and take on missions that are “bigger than themselves.”
“They shouldn’t be in a situation where they feel like it’s expected of them,” she said. “I think that’s part of it too. How many generations of black women have to … acknowledge that they’re taking something upon themselves to make the world a better place for people like them and for everyone else?
“It feels like there has to be an end point at some point. We’re still asking a lot of black female athletes.”
This phenomenon does not only occur in athletes.
“Most black women you talk to, they all feel a similar burden on their shoulders, because we feel like we are the most overlooked and least respected people in this country,” said Shaneka Stanley, a senior human resources consultant near Chicago.
Stanley also has to care for her son, stepdaughter, elderly parents and brother, who has an intellectual disability.
“I am every woman to every person in my life,” Stanley said. “I get tired, but I put that cape on every day.”
Richardson was expected to be a breakout star in Tokyo before a positive test for marijuana at the 2021 Olympic trials. Richardson said afterward that she smoked marijuana to cope with the recent death of her mother, but that didn’t stop the ridicule that followed the sprinter’s 30-day suspension.
Richardson’s name suddenly found itself in the midst of wide-ranging debates over race, fairness and the long-standing anti-doping rules.
Tarlan Chahardovali, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Department of Sport and Entertainment Management, wondered whether the criticism Richardson faced would apply to a white runner in her position.
“I think the circumstances for brown and black women are much more difficult,” Chahardovali said.
Now Richardson gets a second chance at Olympic glory after one of the most dominant seasons in track and field this year. She will be the favorite in the 100 meters after winning the race in 10.71 seconds at the U.S. Track Trials last month.
During her comebackRichardson has spoken repeatedly about resilience.
“The message is basically that I need to understand the talent that I’ve been given and have a deeper love and care for it,” Richardson said. “And I’m tapping into that, nurturing it … and that’s how I’m able to compete and perform when I’m on the court.”
When Biles, Osaka and Richardson stepped back from their careers, “I was so proud of them for living in their truth,” said Marisa Tatum-Taylor, a DEI manager for a large data company. “… I hope that women everywhere get the message that sometimes you have to put yourself first in order to show up.”
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Associated Press editor Claire Savage and AP sports writers Howard Fendrich and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.
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