PARIS (AP) — When Naomi Osaka lifts her racket on the red clay courts at Roland Garros during the Paris Olympics later this month, it'll represent more than a high-stakes competition for the tennis star.
For Osaka, a four-time grand slam champion, it's an important step in her journey after returning to tennis earlier this year, after stepping away to prioritize her mental health and give birth to her daughter.
Click to Gallery
FILE - Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves against Elise Mertens, of Belgium, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
PARIS (AP) — When Naomi Osaka lifts her racket on the red clay courts at Roland Garros during the Paris Olympics later this month, it'll represent more than a high-stakes competition for the tennis star.
FILE - Naomi Osaka speaks during a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
FILE - Simone Biles practices on the bars ahead of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the final of the Women's 100-meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles Owens is interviewed after training at the Stars Gymnastics Sports Center in Katy, Texas, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File)
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, reacts after the women's 100 meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
FILE - Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves against Elise Mertens, of Belgium, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
FILE - Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
Osaka will join gymnastics icon Simone Biles and track and field star Sha’Carri Richardson on the Olympic stage. These Black women athletes at the height of their careers have been vocal about mental health, public critique and other personal struggles. Osaka and Biles needed time away from their respective sports to prioritize mental health. Richardson returned to competition after a highly scrutinized ban from track and field.
They've all bounced back to the world's biggest stage while displaying different levels of vulnerability. Their stories, different yet similar, give viewers a unique image of Black women.
“I always think about this: We weren’t born playing our sport,” Osaka recently told The Associated Press. “We were born the same way as everyone else. I wasn’t born holding a racket. We’re humans first, and we’re athletes as a profession.”
That idea is often overlooked when it comes to Black female athletes, who sit in the shadowed intersection of racism and sexism, said Ketra Armstrong, a professor of sport management and director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport at the University of Michigan.
“It is critically important that they’re elevated in this way," Armstrong said, “because I think it's helping people to reimagine what Black women are and who they are.”
Biles withdrew from the all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Games to focus on her well-being after what she described as feeling the “weight of the world” on her shoulders.
After a two-year hiatus, Biles, 27, proved to be just as dominant in her 2023 return to the international stage as she was at her first Olympics in 2016. She won the individual all-around title at the gymnastics world championships in October and breezed through last month's U.S. Olympic trials.
“Most athletes are wired to win,” Armstrong said. "They’ve been winning all of their lives. And so oftentimes in their sport, they know how to take a day off. And I think what we’re seeing is they’re realizing that even as life intersects with sport, it’s OK to take a time out.”
Osaka and Biles returns to the Olympics is important in creating space for women who look like them to be just as vulnerable, said Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and clinical associate professor of history at Arizona State University, while “also kind of forcing broader culture to accept" them for who they are beyond what they do in their sport.
Jackson said the trio's journeys show a leadership quality that's innate for Black women, who are often seen as invincible. As a result, they take on added pressure and adopt missions “bigger than them."
“They shouldn’t be in a situation where they should feel like it’s expected of them,” she said. “I think that’s a part of this, too. How many generations of Black women have to ... recognize that they’re taking on something to make the world a better place for people like them and for everyone else, too?
"It feels like there should be an end point at some point. We’re still asking a lot of Black women athletes.”
This phenomenon isn’t limited to athletes.
“Most Black women you talk to, we all feel that similar weight on our shoulders because we feel like we are the most overlooked and disrespected people in this country," said Shaneka Stanley, a senior human resources consultant based near Chicago.
Stanley also juggles caring for her young son, step daughter, aging parents, and brother, who has a mental disability.
“I am every woman for all people in my life,” Stanley said. “I get tired, but I put that cape on every single day.”
Richardson was expected to be a breakout star in Tokyo before a positive test for marijuana at the 2021 Olympic trials. Afterward, Richardson said she smoked marijuana to cope with her mother’s recent death, but that didn't stop the ridicule that followed the sprinter's 30-day suspension from the sport.
Richardson's name was suddenly mentioned in wide-ranging debates on race, fairness and longstanding anti-doping rules.
Tarlan Chahardovali, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina’s Department of Sport and Entertainment Management, said she has wondered if the criticism that Richardson faced would be applied to a white runner in her position.
"I think the condition for brown and Black women is much harder," 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'll be a favorite in the 100 meters after winning the race in 10.71 seconds at the U.S. track trials last month.
During her comeback, Richardson has repeatedly talked about resiliency.
“The message is basically understanding and having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent that I’ve been given," Richardson said. "And I take advantage of it, nurture it ... and that way I can compete and execute when I show up on the track.”
When Biles, Osaka and Richardson took a step back in 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 across the world receive that message that sometimes in order to show up, you have to put yourself first.”
Associated Press Writer Claire Savage and AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.
The Associated Press’ women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures. AP is solely responsible for all content. Find AP’s standards for working with philanthropies, a list of supporters and funded coverage areas at AP.org.
AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson wins a heat women's 200-meter semi-finals during the U.S. Track and Field Olympic Team Trials Friday, June 28, 2024, in Eugene, Ore. (AP Photo/George Walker IV, File)
FILE - Naomi Osaka speaks during a forum on mental health during the U.S. Open tennis championships, Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2023, in New York. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer, File)
FILE - Simone Biles practices on the bars ahead of the U.S. Gymnastics Olympic Trials Wednesday, June 26, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, celebrates after winning the gold medal in the final of the Women's 100-meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Olympic gold medalist Simone Biles Owens is interviewed after training at the Stars Gymnastics Sports Center in Katy, Texas, Monday, Feb. 5, 2024. (AP Photo/Michael Wyke, File)
FILE - Sha'Carri Richardson, of the United States, reacts after the women's 100 meters during the World Athletics Championships in Budapest, Hungary, Monday, Aug. 21, 2023. (AP Photo/Ashley Landis, File)
FILE - Naomi Osaka, of Japan, serves against Elise Mertens, of Belgium, at the BNP Paribas Open tennis tournament, Monday, March 11, 2024, in Indian Wells, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill, File)
FILE - Simone Biles competes on the uneven bars at the United States Gymnastics Olympic Trials on Sunday, June 30, 2024, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr, File)
VENICE, Italy (AP) — The 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival came to a close Saturday, with the world premiere of Kevin Costner’s “Horizon: An American Saga — Chapter 2” and the awards ceremony.
Vincent Lindon won the best actor award for the French drama “The Quiet Son,” in which he plays a single father whose son is radicalized by the far right.
There was no real consensus pick for the top prize going into the evening, and eyes were focused on what the Isabelle Huppert-led jury would bestow prizes upon this year. Many of the 21 titles playing in competition have been divisive, with passionate supporters and detractors.
“I have good news for you,” Huppert said at the ceremony. “Cinema is in great shape.”
Among the highest profile of the films up for the top prize included: Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux,” the not-a-musical-musical with Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga ; Pablo Larraín’s Maria Callas film “Maria,” starring Angelina Jolie as the famed soprano; the erotic thriller “Babygirl” in which Nicole Kidman gets entangled in a complicated affair with an intern, played by Harris Dickinson; Luca Guadagnino’s William S. Burroughs adaptation “Queer,” with Daniel Craig as a junkie expat obsessed with a young student; Brady Corbet’s 215-minute post-war epic about an architect and a Holocaust survivor rebuilding a life in America, “The Brutalist,” starring Adrien Brody; and Pedro Almodóvar’s English-language mediation on death and friendship, “The Room Next Door,” starring Julianne Moore and Tilda Swinton.
Five years ago, the Venice jury surprised the film world by giving the Golden Lion to “Joker,” which went on to win a best actor Oscar for Phoenix. Last year the top award went to “Poor Things” and the year before, the documentary “All the Beauty and the Bloodshed.”
The Luigi De Laurentiis award for a debut film went to Sarah Friedland’s “Familiar Touch,” about an octogenarian’s transition to life in assisted living as she grapples with her age, her memory and her relationship to her caregivers. Friedland also won the director prize in the horizons section and her star, Kathleen Chalfant, won the actress prize.
Though always a player in the international festival scene, Venice has cemented its reputation as a major launching pad for awards campaigns over the past 12 years. Since 2014, they’ve hosted four best picture winners (“Birdman,” “Spotlight,” “The Shape of Water” and “Nomadland”) and 19 nominees. And buzz is already swirling about possible best actress nominations for Kidman and Jolie, actor for Craig and supporting actress for Gaga, as the fall film season kicks into full gear.
The festival this year marked a return to form with true A-listers back on the Lido to celebrate films both in and out of competition after last year’s strike addled outing. In addition to the names above, George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Michael Keaton, Winona Ryder, Ethan Hawke, Sigourney Weaver were all lending their star power to the event.
And many rose to the occasion with their fashion. Gaga’s Christian Dior gown paired with a vintage lace Philip Treacy headpiece made for a major red-carpet moment. As was Kidman’s body hugging Schiaparelli, Blanchett’s Armani Privé with strands of pearls cascading down her back, and Jolie with her fur stole. Rachel Weisz and Daniel Craig also played the power couple, with her in a glittery blue Versace gown and him in a cream Loewe suit. The “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” cast did also did a spin on the movie’s aesthetic with their wares.
The last major film premiering, out of competition, was the second part of Kevin Costner’s self-financed passion project. The first installment had a glitzy premiere at the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, but after that fizzled at the box office earlier this summer, the August release of “Chapter Two” was delayed. Instead, it would go the festival route as well.
For more coverage of the 2024 Venice Film Festival, visit https://apnews.com/hub/venice-film-festival.
Vincent Lindon poses for photographers upon arrival at the closing ceremony of the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024(Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Alejandro Edda, left, and Kevin Costner pose for photographers upon arrival at the closing ceremony of the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024(Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Pedro Almodovar poses for photographers upon arrival at the closing ceremony of the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Isabelle Fuhrman, from left, Kevin Costner and Georgia MacPhail pose for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 2)' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Kevin Costner poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Horizon: An American Saga (Chapter 2)' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Angelina Jolie poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Maria' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Angelina Jolie poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Maria' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Thursday, Aug. 29, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Angelina Jolie poses for photographers upon her arrival for the premiere of the film 'Maria' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, Aug. 29, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
Nicole Kidman poses for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Babygirl' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
George Clooney, left, and Brad Pitt upon arrival for the press conference of the film 'Wolfs' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP)
George Clooney signs autographs upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Wolfs' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Sunday, Sept. 1, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Julianne Moore poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Julianne Moore, left, and Tilda Swinton pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'The Room Next Door' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Monday, Sept. 2, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Daniel Craig poses for photographers at the photo call for the film 'Queer' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Tilda Swinton takes a selfie upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Queer' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Tilda Swinton, left, and Pedro Almodovar pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Queer' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)
Venice Film Festival Artistic Director Alberto Barbera, from left, Lady Gaga and Pietrangelo Buttafuoco pose for photographers upon arrival for the premiere of the film 'Joker: Folie A Deux' during the 81st edition of the Venice Film Festival in Venice, Italy, on Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2024. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP)