IN THE NEWS BUT NOT FOR SPORT

When these stars made headlines, it wasn’t for being the best in the game

- KIM ABRAHAMS

THEY’RE athletes at the top of their game – fit, fabulously talented and super famous.

But in 2021 they didn’t make headlines only for the sports they’ve mastered.

Controversy and drama were the order of the day in a year when achievement took a back seat to personal issues.

NAOMI OSAKA

Everyone from Boris Becker to Martina Navratilova had something to say when Osaka refused to attend post-match press conferences at the French Open in May. Facing a room full of world media was detrimental to her mental health and heightened her anxiety, she said.

“The truth is I’ve suffered long bouts of depression since the US Open in 2018 and I’ve had a really hard time coping with that,” Osaka (24) said.

She was slapped with a $15 000 (R240 000) fine for not honouring her contractual media obligations and threatened with disqualification or suspension from the women’s tour.

Becker said she had “to learn to deal with it”, while Navratilova tweeted that in an attempt to make the situation better for herself and others, Osaka had “inadvertently made it worse”.

Osaka stood her ground and also pulled out of Wimbledon to focus on her mental health.

She’s now ready to return to the court. “Kinda rusty, but good to be back,” she says.

TIGER WOODS