“Can’t believe I couldn't find you” – Naomi Osaka rues not being able to meet Haitian athletes to exchange pins at Paris Olympics 2024

Naomi Osaka was disappointed at missing an opportunity to meet Haitian athletes at the Paris Olympics 2024. Osaka's Olympic campaign after a first-round loss to Angelique Kerber.

The Japanese had listed out two major objectives ahead of the Olympics: getting a souvenir for her daughter Shai and receiving a Haitian pin as homage to her father's heritage.

"I have two very important goals in mind. One is to buy Shai a very cute souvenir from the Olympic souvenir store. And then two I am going to bargain, hassle, stop anybody that has a Haitian pin and I am going to beg them for it or I am going to park myself outside of the Haitian building. I might go in, I don’t know, and ask ‘Can I please have a Haitian pin?’," Osaka said in a video.

Two Haitian athletes and a coach, Alexandre S. Grand’Pierre (swimmer), Lynnzee Brown (gymnast), and Naomy Grand'Pierre (swimming coach) tried to reach out to the Japanese by posting on Instagram.

"Naomi Osaka, this is the Haitian delegation. [inaudible] Come find us, where are you? We need to do the trade. We got your pin, from Haiti," they said.

Osaka expressed remorse for not being able to meet and exchange pins with the Haitian delegation.

"I can't believe I couldn't find you guys," Osaka wrote.

Source- Naomi Osaka's Instagram handle

Naomi Osaka: "My fierce competitiveness comes from my Haitian side"

Naomi Osaka with her father at the 2022 Canadian Open (IMAGE: GETTY)

Osaka believes her mixed-racial heritage helped enhance her worldview and has proven to be her biggest strength. The former World No.1 spoke about it at length in an interview with Dazed magazine. She has a Japanese mother and a Haitian father.

Osaka said her diverse heritage had made her more tolerant and accepting. The four-time Grand Slam champion acknowledged getting characteristics from both sides, crediting her Japanese mother for her soft-spoken nature and her Haitian father for her fierce competitiveness.

"I feel like this is really my strength: being unique and also having diverse life experiences which have made me more tolerant, accepting and curious. I can feel myself having different characteristics from each parent, which directly reflect the nationalities. I am quite soft-spoken, which is definitely from my Japanese side, but I think my fierce competitiveness comes from my Haitian side," she said.

Osaka will be seen in action next at the 2024 National Bank Open, where he has been awarded a wildcard.