Tennis Player, Naomi Osaka holds dual citizenship from the United States and Japan, but last week she revealed plans of renouncing her US citizenship in hopes of representing Japan in the 2020 Summer Olympics being held in Tokyo.
What We Know:
- Osaka, whose mother is Japanese and father is Haitian, made the initial announcement during an interview with Japanese broadcast organization NHK.
- A Japanese law put in place in 1985, requires dual citizens to make a “declaration of choice” that would renounce one of their citizenship’s before their 22nd birthday.
- Osaka, who ranks no. 3 in the world, expressed to the outlet that “It’s definitely going to be very special. I think there’s no other place that I’d rather play my first Olympics. I think that will be one of the most memorable things that ever happens to me.”
- To be eligible to represent Japan at the Olympics, she must also compete for the country in one more national team competition hosted by the International Tennis Federation, according to the Japanese Tennis Association.
- Osaka previously beat her idol, Serena Williams who holds the record for the most US Open wins. She said she felt like all of the hard work she had done in her life was for that moment, and being able to play against Serena Williams was really special.
Two-time tennis Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka has announced she has chosen Japanese citizenship in order to represent the hosts at the @Tokyo2020 Olympics.@Naomi_Osaka_ @ITF_Tennis #Tokyo2020https://t.co/oAdrKEFsk2
— Olympic Channel (@olympicchannel) October 10, 2019
Having represented the country during the World Tennis Association Tour, Osaka is well on her way to representing Japan in next year’s Summer Olympics. She won her second consecutive win last week whilst representing Japan.
