Tokyo 2020 star Naomi Osaka, Shohei Ohtani lead Asian ESPY 2021 winners

Australian Open champion wins two awards with Los Angeles Angels star and golfer Kim Sei-young among other winners

Korean-American snowboarder Chloe Kim beats Chinese skier Eileen Gu for Best Athlete in Women’s Action Sports

Reading Time:2 minutes

Japan's Naomi Osaka celebrates after defeating Romania's Patricia Maria Tig during a first-round match of the 2021 French Open tennis tournament at Roland-Garros. Osaka made her first public appearance since pulling out of the tournament at the 2021 ESPY Awards. Photo: AP

Published: 1:43pm, 12 Jul 2021Updated: 1:43pm, 12 Jul 2021

World No 2 Naomi Osaka was named the best athlete in women’s sports at the ESPY Awards on Saturday, leading a record year for Asian and Asian-American winners of the annual awards.

Osaka, who is set to be the face of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games when she returns to the court later this month, was also named Best Athlete in Women’s Tennis for the first time.

The 23-year-old has not played since the first round of the French Open when she pulled out of the tournament after foregoing media commitments to protect her mental health. She also pulled out of Wimbledon and spoke about that decision and her return to tennis at the Tokyo Games in a recent Time cover story.

Osaka, who won this year’s Australian Open, was at the ceremony in New York City, her first public appearance since pulling out of the French Open after being fined by tournament organisers.

“I just really want to not say a long speech because I’m a bit nervous … I know this year has been really, it hasn’t even finished, but it’s been really tough for a lot of us,” she said on stage.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x