Naomi Osaka and Lewis Hamilton vow to carry on fight for social justice
- Osaka says that those who told her to ‘keep politics out of sports’ inspired her US Open win – and she’s not going to leave their TV screens
- F1 champion Hamilton, who avoided FIA punishment for ‘Arrest the cops who killed Breonna Taylor’ shirt at Tuscan Grand Prix, will not be silenced
US Open champion Naomi Osaka and six-time Formula One champion Lewis Hamilton have both vowed to keep speaking out on social justice issues.
Osaka, who wore masks with the name of a different African-American victim of police shootings or racial violence in the US during her run at Flushing Meadows, said that critics drove her to victory.
“All the people that were telling me to ‘keep politics out of sports’, (which it wasn’t political at all), really inspired me to win,” she wrote on Twitter.
“You better believe I’m gonna try to be on your TV for as long as possible.”
While the 22-year-old had been criticised in some corners, she was also praised in the aftermath of her third grand slam win by tennis greats Martina Navratilova and Billie Jean King, as well as former first lady Michelle Obama.
Osaka was also praised by Hamilton, the only black driver in Formula One, for speaking up.