For Osaka, a four-time grand slam champion, it\u2019s an important step in her journey after returning to tennis earlier this year, after stepping away to prioritize her mental health<\/a> and give birth to her daughter.<\/p>\n Osaka will join gymnastics icon Simone Biles<\/a> and track and field star Sha\u2019Carri Richardson<\/a> on the Olympic stage<\/a>. These Black women<\/a> athletes at the height of their careers have been vocal about mental health<\/a>, 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.<\/p>\n They\u2019ve all bounced back to the world\u2019s biggest stage while displaying different levels of vulnerability. Their stories, different yet similar, give viewers a unique image of Black women.<\/p>\n \u201cI always think about this: We weren\u2019t born playing our sport,\u201d Osaka recently told The Associated Press. \u201cWe were born the same way as everyone else. I wasn\u2019t born holding a racket. We\u2019re humans first, and we\u2019re athletes as a profession.\u201d<\/p>\n 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>, a professor of sport management and director of the Center for Race and Ethnicity in Sport at the University of Michigan<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is critically important that they\u2019re elevated in this way,\u201d Armstrong said, \u201cbecause I think it\u2019s helping people to reimagine what Black women are and who they are.\u201d<\/p>\n Matthew Stockman\u2014Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Biles withdrew from the all-around gymnastics competition at the Tokyo Games to focus on her well-being after what she described<\/a> as feeling the \u201cweight of the world\u201d on her shoulders.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s U.S. Olympic trials.<\/p>\n \u201cMost athletes are wired to win,\u201d Armstrong said. \u201cThey\u2019ve 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\u2019re seeing is they\u2019re realizing that even as life intersects with sport, it\u2019s OK to take a time out.\u201d<\/p>\n 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>, a sports historian and clinical associate professor of history at Arizona State University, while \u201calso kind of forcing broader culture to accept\u201d them for who they are beyond what they do in their sport.<\/p>\n Jackson said the trio\u2019s journeys show a leadership quality that\u2019s innate for Black women, who are often seen as invincible. As a result, they take on added pressure and adopt missions \u201cbigger than them.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThey shouldn\u2019t be in a situation where they should feel like it\u2019s expected of them,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that\u2019s a part of this, too. How many generations of Black women have to\u2026recognize that they\u2019re taking on something to make the world a better place for people like them and for everyone else, too?<\/p>\n \u201cIt feels like there should be an end point at some point. We\u2019re still asking a lot of Black women athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n This phenomenon isn\u2019t limited to athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cMost 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,\u201d said Shaneka Stanley<\/a>, a senior human resources consultant based near Chicago.<\/p>\n Stanley also juggles caring for her young son, step-daughter, aging parents, and brother, who has a mental disability.<\/p>\n \u201cI am every woman for all people in my life,\u201d Stanley said. \u201cI get tired, but I put that cape on every single day.\u201d<\/p>\n EMMANUEL DUNAND\/AFP via Getty Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n 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\u2019s recent death, but that didn\u2019t stop the ridicule that followed the sprinter\u2019s 30-day suspension from the sport.<\/p>\n Richardson\u2019s name was suddenly mentioned in wide-ranging debates on race, fairness and longstanding anti-doping rules.<\/p>\n Tarlan Chahardovali<\/a>, an assistant professor in the University of South Carolina\u2019s Department of Sport and Entertainment Management<\/a>, said she has wondered if the criticism that Richardson faced would be applied to a white runner in her position.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the condition for brown and Black women is much harder,\u201d Chahardovali said.<\/p>\n Now, Richardson gets a second chance at Olympic glory after one of the most dominant seasons in track and field this year. She\u2019ll be a favorite in the 100 meters after winning the race in 10.71 seconds at the U.S. track trials last month.<\/p>\n During her comeback, Richardson has repeatedly talked about resiliency.<\/p>\n \u201cThe message is basically understanding and having a deeper love and a deeper care for the talent that I\u2019ve been given,\u201d Richardson said. \u201cAnd I take advantage of it, nurture it\u2026and that way I can compete and execute when I show up on the track.\u201d<\/p>\n When Biles, Osaka and Richardson took a step back in their careers, \u201cI was so proud of them for living in their truth,\u201d said Marisa Tatum-Taylor, a DEI manager for a large data company. \u201c\u2026I hope that women across the world receive that message that sometimes in order to show up, you have to put yourself first.\u201d<\/p>\n Associated Press Writer Claire Savage and AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich and Eddie Pells contributed to this report.<\/em> The Associated Press\u2019 women in the workforce and state government coverage receives financial support from Pivotal Ventures.<\/em><\/p>\n For more on the 2024 Summer Olympics and Paralympics in Paris:<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"Naomi](\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/img-assets\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/07\/GettyImages-2163009477-e1721929076210.jpg?w=1440&q=75\"\/)
Biles, Osaka create space for women like them<\/h2>\n
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\u2018Condition for brown and Black women is much harder\u2019<\/h2>\n