Naomi Osaka and regional sports organizations seek to help Haiti amid new tragedy

The new Haitian tragedy accompanies Naomi Osaka in Cincinnati, her first tournament after the Tokyo Olympics.

The world No. 2 tennis player made her debut in the second round of the Western and Southern Open with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 win over American up-and-comer Coco Gauff.

Last year, Osaka withdrew from the French Open and Wimbledon before returning to her native Japan to light the flame at the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony. She was subsequently eliminated in the third round of the singles event.

Born to a Haitian father and Japanese mother, Osaka has announced that she will donate the proceeds of this tournament to the victims of another earthquake in America’s poorest country.

The most recent figures register 2,189 dead, and nearly 12,300 injured, mostly in the southern towns of Nippes and Grand’Anse.

Like January 12, 2010, the earthquake of August 14, 2021 surprised the population of the great South that has not yet finished thinking about the plagues left by Hurricane Matthew in 2016. The disaster also surprised the Haitian state which, as in 2010, was not prepared to deal with it.

“Five days after the disaster, calls for help are ringing everywhere. Communities in remote areas are trying through social networks and traditional media to make their voices heard. Unlike in 2010, social networks are available to all” writes the local newspaper Le Nouvelliste.

The powerful earthquake shook the southwestern part of Haiti, destroyed villages and caused huge landslides.

Helicopters of the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Army are transporting the injured to Port-au-Prince from provincial localities where hospitals are overwhelmed, and from the Haitian capital they are carrying international aid shipments to the devastated areas.

The drama mobilizes solidarity, as in previous natural disasters.

“It’s heartbreaking that Haiti is facing these endless challenges,” Brian Lewis, president of the Association of Caribbean Olympic Committees, Trinidad and Tobago, tells Around The Rings.

Lewis comments that he remains in contact with Hans Larsen, president of the Haitian Olympic Committee.

“Our prayers and thoughts are with Haiti. They are a resilient people.”

Thirty minutes from Port-au-Prince, the International Olympic Committee opened a multi-sport complex called the “Center of Hope” in 2014 as part of the restoration of sports infrastructure destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. Through this facility flows cooperation from the IOC, but also from the Pan American sports organization.

The Mexican Ivar Sisniega, secretary general of Panam Sports, assured ATR that “they are aware” of what is happening. “Although there is no damage in Port-au-Prince, we still don’t have information on what they need,” he said.

In the midst of the disaster caused by the earthquake, Haiti suffered on Tuesday the passage of a tropical storm with heavy rains that hindered rescue and search operations. Turned into a hurricane, the system entered Mexico through Quintana Roo on Thursday.

The earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale shook Haiti at a time when the country is struggling with the coronavirus pandemic and the political upheaval created by the assassination last month of President Jovenel Moïse.

The tension created by the president’s assassination prompted Centro Caribe Sports to help the Haitian Olympic delegation travel to Tokyo through Santo Domingo’s international airport after obtaining authorization from the Dominican government.

IOC president, Thomas Bach, thanked in a press release this cooperation that allowed the participation of six Haitian athletes in the Olympic Games.

The president of Centro Caribe Sports, Dominican Luis Mejia Oviedo, told ATR on Thursday that the same spirit of solidarity is maintained with Haiti in these difficult times and that the regional sports organization has joined a first effort of different national sports federations in sending medicines and food.

“We hope to have by next week a more specific evaluation of what they need in the field of sports,” said Mejia.

As for Naomi Osaka’s initiative, beyond the amount that her donation could mean, it is not ruled out that it could be imitated by other sports stars and institutions.

The Cincinnati tournament will award $255,220 to the winner of the women’s singles and $188,945 to the runner-up.

On Sunday, a day after the earthquake, Osaka announced on Twitter his purpose: “It really hurts to see all the devastation happening in Haiti and I feel we really can’t catch a break. I’m about to play a tournament this week and will give all the prize money to Haiti relief efforts. I know the blood of our ancestors is strong, we will continue to rise.”

The four-time Grand Slam champion, 23, has been frequent on her social media to draw attention to police violence, racial justice and stigmas surrounding mental health in high performance sport.

On the eve of the tournament, during a video press conference, when a reporter asked her about tennis and her commitment to Haiti, she cried, and briefly interrupted her appearance before continuing.

“Regarding Haiti I have the feeling that I can do more than I do. That’s why I’m looking at how to help, in what way is better to do it. Donating the prize money from this tournament is the first thing I thought of. For that, I have to do it right. That’s why I said it. The bad thing is that I see every day the news and it’s really terrible.”