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How misogynoir is oppressing Black women athletes
>Naomi Osaka discovered what it's like to be at the sharp end of a sporting governing body's regulations this summer.
The four-time grand slam singles champion declined to attend press conferences as she began her French Open campaign in June -- citing the importance of protecting her mental health and addressing the toll that media interviews had previously taken on her.
>The French Open organizers responded by fining the world No. 2 an amount of $15,000 and threatening to expel her from future grand slams, after they deemed her withdrawal from press conferences as a failure on her part to meet "contractual media obligations."
>Osaka made the decision to withdraw from Roland Garros altogether, then skipped Wimbledon, before returning to play at the Tokyo Olympics.
>What's happened to Osaka over the last few months has left many critical of her sport's handling of the situation, and wishing those who govern her sport had adopted a more empathetic and sensitive approach given she was dealing with mental health issues.
>In fact, just after Osaka said she would be opting out of speaking to the press at the tournament, the French Open official Twitter account posted a since-deleted tweet that included photos of four other players engaging in media duties -- Coco Gauff, Kei Nishikori, Aryna Sablenka and Rafael Nadal -- which carried the caption: "They understood the assignment."
>The tweet appeared to be directed at Osaka and her decision to withdraw from media obligations. It was considered by several former tennis players and pundits as insensitive, and former doubles champion Rennae Stubbs said that the post could make Osaka "feel guilty" and described it as "humiliating" for her.
And while the rule itself -- in which players are required to engage in press conferences throughout the tournament -- may not be a racist or misogynistic one, the context in which Osaka found herself punished and seemingly mocked by officials is part of a pattern in which Black women in elite sports are subject to harsh scrutiny.
>The rigidity with which Roland Garros responded to Osaka's decision is reminiscent of the scrutiny that tennis governing bodies have previously bestowed upon other prominent players, including Serena Williams.
>Osaka is a young, Black and Japanese athlete whose decision at the French Open is considered outside of the box by many. Her refusal to play by the traditional rules has seen her face backlash across the board in a particular right-wing media landscape that doesn't look too fondly on Black women that diverge from the expected path.
>At the time, the organization's then-president Bernard Giudicelli said that a tennis player must "respect the game and the place" and said Williams' catsuit wouldn't be accepted at the grand slam.
Williams found herself accused of displaying "disrespect" towards the game despite putting her physical health first, much like Osaka prioritized her mental health this year. In both cases, there was a feeling among many that Black women athletes were having their legitimate personal choices policed with insensitivity by governing bodies.
>After Williams' defeat to Osaka in the 2018 US Open final, in which there was an altercation between Williams and umpire Carlos Ramos, she was portrayed by Mark Knight in a cartoon in a way that was widely regarded as a racist stereotype -- a case in which a White artist depicted Williams as angry and ill-mannered, a trope which has been used to cast Black women in a degrading and mocking light for many years.
The events of the 2018 French Open served as yet another occasion at which Williams was subject to heavy criticism for her appearance in a history of intense scrutiny levelled at a successful Black sports woman.
>It's almost comical how blatant it is Olympian Gwen Berry is a track and field star for whom equal treatment for women, especially Black women, in sport matters greatly.
>She says that "without a doubt" there is systemic racism and bias within professional sport.
>"It's almost comical how blatant it is," Berry told CNN Sport. "When Serena, Naomi or another athlete who happens to be a Black woman, does anything that veers away from what's 'expected' in the top sports, they're punished."
>At the US Olympic trials this year, she turned away from the flag and held up a T-shirt that carried the words 'activist athlete' as the National Anthem played while she was on the podium after Berry says she was told it would play before the medal ceremony, not during, -- something which made her feel as if she had been "set up" by USA Track and Field.
>Immediately afterwards, she was met with fury from critics including Republican Sen. Ted Cruz and Rep. Dan Crenshaw, the former of whom accused her of hating America.Marathon man's remarkable journey to Tokyo 2020 Running as equals
>She received a 12-month probation from the US Olympic and Paralympic Committee for the act, which she says was meant to highlight social injustice in America. The committee called the gesture a breach of their code of conduct.
>Berry finds the punishment and marginalization that she's faced for protesting inequality in the US to be the product of both racism, misogyny and elitism in what she sees as an environment that doesn't want Black women athletes to speak out.
"It feels like, when you're an athlete and you're standing up for racial equality and for women's rights that the people at the top don't want you to do anything other than perform for them," Berry said. "It's like they're saying to us: 'You're on this stage, so you have to do what we ask and it doesn't matter what you want to say."
>If you say anything that addresses the reality of racial inequality in this country and in this sport, you're pulled back because it doesn't fit in with how you're expected to perform."
>They don't want the field to be too far apart'
Back in May, Simone Biles -- the most decorated American gymnast in history -- received what her coach, sports journalists such as Juliet Macur and other commentators deemed an underscore from the US Classic judges after she pulled off a Yurchenko double pike vault.
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>While wearing a leotard complete with an image of a rhinestone goat emblazoned on the back -- in reference to the perception that she is the GOAT, or greatest of all time, in her field -- Biles achieved something unprecedented for women in gymnastics, and was rewarded for her efforts with a score of 6.6.
>That's just slightly above the scores usually given for completing significantly less challenging vaults. After receiving a score that falls within the range of points she'd been given before for far less difficult moves, Biles said to ESPN: "That's on the [International Federation of Gymnastics], that's not on me.
>They have an open-end code of points, and now they're mad people are too far ahead and excelling."
>Biles has set the bar for what modern gymnasts are capable of. She has performed routines so complex and inventive that she has four moves named after her. She is widely considered the best female gymnast in the world.
>So, it is understandable that she considers the 6.6 for pulling off a groundbreaking move an underscore -- and that she feels this is motivated by a desire to ensure that she doesn't excel too far ahead.
>Usually when an athlete claims a historic achievement, they can expect to be celebrated by their field's ruling body. In this case, that didn't happen for the five-time World all-around champion.
The International Federation of Gymnastics did not respond to CNN's request for comment. They did not issue a statement elsewhere in response to Biles' comments on the US Classic score.
https://archive.ph/FTwjQ
Journalists already blaming america losing to China, Russia and japan in the Olympics on white suprema