Naomi Osaka, Shohei Ohtani headline athletes on Time’s 100 most influential
- Six sports stars named including Tokyo 2020 champion Sunisa Lee and decorated Olympian Alyson Felix
- US gymnast Simone Biles and NFL legend Tom Brady also on the list along with Tokyo 2020 architect Kengo Kuma
Japanese superstars Naomi Osaka and Shohei Ohtani have been named to Time magazine’s list of “the 100 most influential people of 2021” among six athletes to make the cut in the annual list.
Osaka has been praised for speaking about mental health as well as activism for other causes, including Black Lives Matter. The 23-year-old makes her third appearance in a row while MLB’s two-way All-Star Ohtani is making his first appearance.
The 27-year-old reportedly becomes only the second baseball player to make the list after the New York Yankees pitcher Wang Chien-ming of Taiwan in 2007.
Osaka and Ohtani were included in the “Icons” section of the list along with the Duke and Duchess of Sussex.
This year’s Time list also included Japanese architect Kengo Kuma, the designer of the Tokyo Olympic Stadium, in the list of “Innovators”.
Kuma was among several names with links to the Summer Games, including US Olympic gymnast Sunisa Lee.