Tennis star Naomi Osaka opens up on 'scary' 5am drug test wake-up call just days before beginning her French Open campaign
Former world number one Naomi Osaka revealed she endured a 'scary' 5am wake-up call to be drug tested on Saturday.
The Japanese star, who plays Paula Badosa in the first round of the French Open on Monday, was targeted by anti-doping control at the crack of dawn in Paris.
The testers, she said, often struggle to find her veins as they attempt to take a blood sample, sometimes leaving her arms bruised.
'I honestly don't know the rules about talking about anti-doping,' said the 27-year-old. 'Am I allowed to say whatever I want?
'I don't know. They're kind of scary. Yeah, for me, anti-doping is like - I don't have a great relationship with them, just because they always come and take blood and urine, which I don't know if that disgusts people to say, but whatever, and my veins are, like, very notoriously hard to find.
'One person once told me it was like a Japanese thing. I don't know if that's accurate. Yeah, so they come at 5am and 'stick' me multiple times.
'Usually they can't find my veins, so they have three attempts to find it. Sometimes they can't find it.
'They're like, "oops, sorry, let me try this arm, let me try this arm, let me try this arm". I always have to tell them "hey, my playing arm is my right arm, I prefer the left, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah".
'And today was kind of scary, because the last year I was here they also came at 5:00am, and the lady couldn't find my veins at all.
'I had huge bruises on my arms for a while. Thankfully it wasn't the same lady. No shade to her. And yeah, today was a success because luckily I had to use the bathroom when they woke me up, so...'
Britain's Emma Raducanu admitted she has undergone similar unpleasant experiences.
'Sometimes it feels like pin the donkey, because at 6am you're not very hydrated and everything,' she said.
'It's like you can't get any blood out, and they have however many attempts. That's a bit difficult, but I think we all have to go through it.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Review Geek
2 hours ago
- The Review Geek
Olympo – Season 1 Episode 1 'This Is Not Olympics Level' Recap & Review
This Is Not Olympics Level Episode 1 of Olympo season 1 starts with a girl working out. Her instructors remark that she is doing better than they expected. She is surpassing all her records and seems locked in. Elsewhere, two girls are also exercising together. After setting a new record, they start celebrating. A man and a woman approach them and invite them to their High Performance Centre. It is a training centre where athletes do nothing but train. Zoe is not too excited about the offer, but Yaiza is jumping for joy. To celebrate, Zoe starts smoking a blunt. They promise it is the last smoke they will have. The scene cuts to an accident scene and Zoe yelling, 'Yaiza !' Presently, we see Zoe's parents driving her to the HPC. She begs them not to leave her there, but they ignore her. They want her to take advantage of this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. While standing there, looking lost, Zoe meets Nuria. Nuria is friendly and offers to give Zoe a tour. Zoe worries if she will get enough training since a lot of the athletes there are good-looking. All things considered, this looks like a dream training centre for most athletes. The centre has all the top-tier resources needed to train a star athlete. Nuria introduces Zoe to her best friend, Amaia. Amaia is the star of the artistic swimming team. Everyone excitedly welcomes Nuria back, and we learn she was out to treat a shoulder sprain. As the tour continues, we are introduced to Christian, Amaia's boyfriend. Christian's brother is also a former Olympo star. Christian hopes to live up to his legacy. There is Roque; he is gay and friends with both Christian and Amaia. There seems to be tension between Jennifer and Zoe. It seems they know each other since Jenifer brings up Zoe's records. Everyone seems shocked to know Zoe broke a record and might be heading to the Olympics. As they talk, people start rushing towards the windows. It turns out a few people from Olympo are at the centre to give some athletes sponsorship. They will only pick three athletes, and everyone thinks that Amaia will be their top pick. Isabel, the director, welcomes the Olympo group, and there seems to be something going on between one of the Olympos and Nuria. While the Olympo people settle in, Christian and Amaia sneak off to make out. As they get busy, Amaia's mom calls. She ignores the call, but her mom keeps calling back. In the end, she gives up and picks up the call. Her mom, a former failed athlete, advises Amaia to cut Nuria loose. She calls Nuria to lose weight and claims she is holding back Amaia. Amaia tries to defend Nuria, but her mom says the latter was on vacation. The call spoils the mood, and Nuria walks in on the couple. Amaia confronts her about the truth of where she has been for the last week. Nuria refuses to tell her, and Amaia orders her to go to the physio. Amaia refuses to team up with Nuria and looks like a fool in front of the federation. Nuria tries to convince her she is ready, but Amaia doesn't let up. Later, the coach notices Nuria is missing and sends someone to get her. In the meantime, she has Fatima do the duet with Amaia. Meanwhile, Zoe struggles to settle in and messes up during training. Her coach teams her up with Renata. Unfortunately, Renata refuses to acknowledge Zoe or even talk to her. On the football team, Roque warms up with Charlie, who is homophobic. Christian nearly gets injured, and the coach gives him the bad news that he is cut from the programme. The coach, Javier, thinks his physique and strength are an issue. All these unfold in front of the Olympo federation team. Isabel sees Nuria hugging Hugo, one of the guys from Olympo. Nuria insinuates that Amaia might be onto them, and the guy questions if it is time to come clean. Hugo later approaches Zoe after she falls while doing a high jump. Within a few minutes, everyone learns that Zoe is the first sponsorship pick. Amaia acts like she is okay, but goes to her room. Christian arrives to tell her about being cut from the team, but she jumps his bones. They end up having sex, and Amaia runs late for her training session. Unfortunately, Christian is unable to tell her that he is leaving. Amaia returns to training, and the coach warns her that Nuria was not at the physio. The coach is ready to cut Nuria off the team if she doesn't up her game. They begin practising the duet, pairing Amaia with Peque. Peque loses her breath, and Amaia loses her patience with her. Peque storms off, and Amaia shortly follows her. As Amaia tries to comfort Peque, a drug bottle falls and rolls to where she is standing. Amaia realises that Peque has been doping and confronts her. Peque begs her not to tell the coach. Against her better judgment, Amaia keeps Peque's secret, and they return to the training session. On the other side of the centre, Roque secretly hooks up with a guy and takes an afterglow selfie. Roque suggests posting it on social media, but the guy refuses and leaves. Later, Roque vents to Christian, and the latter sneakily grabs Roque's phone and posts the picture. The conversation turns to Christian's dilemma and how he is yet to talk to Amaia about leaving the centre. He leaves the next day and hopes to talk to Amaia after training. At the gym, Zoe tries to get some exercise while Renata continues to ignore her. Sebas and Charlie corner her and express their frustration with her getting the scholarship. Nuria helps Zoe out and tells her to be careful of the jealous people at the centre. Zoe can't understand why everyone is obsessed with winning and dislikes the centre. Nuria reveals that Amaia helped her a lot when she came to the centre. Nuria urges Zoe to find her person at the centre. This triggers Zoe, and she packs her things and announces to Renata that she is leaving. She doesn't get far before Hugo finds her and brings up the ongoing court battle after the accident. He insists that Zoe is heading for the Olympics, and Olympo wants to help her. He advises her to sign the sponsorship contract quickly and return to the centre. He doesn't even give her time to read the contract. He simply assures her that there is nothing to worry about. At the centre, Fatima talks to Nuria about the ongoing duet practice. Amaia is having everyone but Nuria try out for the duet. Zoe arrives to find Nuria getting into the water to challenge Amaia. However, Amaia is not pleased when Nuria pulls off the set. She demands that she do ten extra spins. Of course, Amaia thinks Nuria can't do it. Nuria accepts the challenge and does ten flying leg spins. Sadly, she goes unconscious and starts dropping towards the swimming pool floor. Amaia and Zoe jump into the pool to save her. The Episode Review This sports drama barely manages to grab our attention from the first episode, and a lot is going on with each character. Roque is sleeping with a closeted guy, but that doesn't excuse what he and Christian did. By posting that picture, they undoubtedly outed the guy. This guy may be a piece of work, but there is never an excuse to out someone, especially after they told you they don't feel comfortable coming out of the closet. We have Christian, who is preparing to leave the centre since he doesn't meet the qualifications. It is a pity that he won't be able to honour his brother's legacy. However, Christian is also worried about the future of his relationship with Amaia once he leaves. Speaking of Amaia, she comes off as obsessed with winning in this episode. We don't know much about her background, but she seems to take Nuria's secret personally. From the opening scene, we know that Nuria was training and not on medical leave. Hugo might be behind this, and they are keeping the truth from Amaia. Unfortunately, Nuria had an accident, and her fate remains unclear. Of course, we can't help but wonder whether Amaia pushed her too hard or if there is something else at play here. This episode also touched on doping and the pressure athletes have to perform well every time. Perhaps this is what Zoe finds overwhelming. Everyone is out to win, disregarding everything else. Zoe lost her fighting spirit after the accident with her friend. What happened to her friend, and why is Zoe facing a court charge? Hugo made her sign the contract too quickly, and it might bite her in the future. There is something off about Hugo. Lastly, now that Zoe is at the centre, will she find her competitive spirit again?
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
NBA star Durant becomes minority owner of PSG
Two-time NBA champion Kevin Durant has bought a minority stake in Champions League winners Paris Phoenix Suns forward has signed a strategic partnership agreement with Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), the majority owners of the French club, and will provide expertise during PSG's planned expansion into basketball."It is an honour to partner with QSI and to be a shareholder of PSG, a club and a city that is deeply close to my heart," the four-time Olympic gold medallist said."This club has big plans and I look forward to being part of the next phase of growth and exploring new investment opportunities with QSI."Earlier this year, QSI expressed their interest in owning a franchise in a European basketball league proposed by the NBA and the sport's world governing body said that they will partner with Durant's media and investment company Boardroom on a wide range of "commercial, investment and content initiatives" and that the NBA star will "support the club on its continued sports and business diversification and growth".Durant was already linked with the 13-time French champions through the club's minority shareholder Arctos Partners but has now invested who won two NBA titles with Golden State Warriors and claimed gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics with the United States, was recently included in Forbes' 2025 list of highest-paid acquired PSG in 2011 and their investment has helped the club win 11 Ligue 1 titles and a first Champions League, that they won by defeating Inter Milan 5-0 last month.
BBC News
2 hours ago
- BBC News
Zverev and Medvedev win after sickness and nosebleed
World number three Alexander Zverev sprinted off court to vomit mid-match but recovered to beat Italy's Flavio Cobolli 6-4 7-6 (8-6) at the Halle the second game of his quarter-final of the grass-court tournament Zverev requested a toilet break and ran off court to be looked visibly unwell on his return and initially struggled in longer rallies, but he got better as the match went on and managed to hold off world number 24 Cobolli."I felt fine before the match. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, I felt really, really bad. I felt ill, went to throw up and then 15 minutes later I felt OK again," the 28-year-old German said."I don't know what it was, I've never experienced that before. I hope I'll be fine in the next couple of hours when the adrenaline settles."In the semi-finals Zverev will face Daniil Medvedev, whose match on Friday was also briefly delayed when the Russian had a nosebleed on needing a medical timeout in the second set, the former world number one ended up cruising to a 6-4 6-3 win over American Alex Michelsen to keep his preparations for Wimbledon on track, with 10 days to go before the start of the grass-court Grand Slam. "The shadows on the court made the conditions quite difficult. It took some time to get used to it," Medvedev, 29, said. Sabalenka saves four match points in win There was also drama at the Berlin Open, where world number one Aryna Sabalenka saved four match points to beat Elena Rybakina 7-6 (8-6) 3-6 7-6 (8-6).The Belarusian was down 6-2 in the deciding tie-break and only saved the first match point thanks to a fortunate net was to be the momentum swing Sabalenka needed. Kazakh 2022 Wimbledon champion Rybakina never recovered and Sabalenka won the next five points to reach Saturday's semi-finals."It's amazing to win matches like this, it trains your fighting spirit for the next tournaments and I'm proud of myself for trying till the very last point," said 27-year-old will face another former Wimbledon champion in the semi-finals in Czech Marketa Vondrousova, who beat Tunisian Ons Jabeur 6-4 6-1 in a re-match of their 2023 final at the All England Club.
