Attention weebs! After winning the semi-finals at the US Open (Tennis), Coco Gauff shared her post-match plans with the entire world. And surprisingly her preparations for the finals included watching anime. The crowd burst into a loud cheer after hearing her plans. She went on to share how she had also watched a few episodes of My Hero Academia before her match.
You’ll be surprised to know that Coco Gauff isn’t the only Sportsperson who likes anime. There are a lot of professional sportspersons who like anime and are quite outspoken about it. Here’s a list of 5 Sports Persons like Coco Gauff who like anime.
Here’s 5 Sportspersons like Coco Gauff who like Anime
Jamaal Williams
Jamaal Williams, the renowned American Football player, has a video on the internet where he explains why you should get with a guy who likes anime. In that video, he can be seen doing the Naruto hand signs and referencing the Shonen spirit.
Besides Naruto, he also mentions Pokémon while wearing a shinobi headband. Even outside the video, he is always vocal about his love for anime. He sounds like he knows what he’s talking about. A true weeb you see?
Miltiadis Tentoglou
Miltiadis Tentoglou is a Greek athlete who is one of the best long jumpers. Winning a gold medal isn’t all he did at the Tokyo Olympics but he also posed as Gear 2nd Luffy. When enquired about the pose in an interview later on, he confirmed that it was the Gear 2nd pose indeed.
He didn’t just stop there but recently in the World Championship Bucharest 2023, he re-enacted Luffy’s laughing scene in his Gear 5th form as well.
Payton Otterdahl
Dear USA shot putter; Payton Otterdahl
We sincerely celebrate the activities of our "NAKAMA" around the world with the utmost respect for your efforts and achievements. pic.twitter.com/wSpnifZyK4
— ONE PIECE スタッフ【公式】/ Official (@Eiichiro_Staff) August 5, 2021
Payton Otterdahl also competed at the Tokyo Summer Olympics 2020. Spotting the perfect opportunity in the homeland of anime, the shot-putter put his love for anime on display.
With his Franky pose, Payton Otterdahl confessed his love for One Piece in front of the whole world. The official One Piece staff page on Instagram acknowledged his Nakama status. What a Super-b man!
Kelly Oubre Jr.
Popularly known for his professional career as a Basketball Player, Kelly Oubre Jr. is also a Naruto fan. The NBA player has been seen doing the Naruto run multiple times. It’s his warm-up exercise before the matches and during practice. He just Naruto runs his way out of nowhere. His posture is on par with the Seventh Hokage.
Naomi Osaka
The four-time Grand Slam winner and Tennis Player, Naomi Osaka grew up loving anime and manga. Masashi Kishimoto illustrated Naomi with Sakura and Naruto as a gift for the Tennis player.
Naomi has also confirmed her love for Attack on Titan and Prince of Tennis (specifically for Ryoma Echizen). She also posted a picture of herself on Instagram in pink hair with the caption ‘Sakura could never lol’. She has also featured in a manga in Kodansha’s Nakayoshi.
Special mention to Steven Adams who is a huge fan of One Piece, he once made a tweet asking who likes One Piece with the hashtag Mugiwara. Manchester United’s David De Gea was once seen wearing a Naruto hoodie as well. UFC fighter Israel Adesanya also posed as Rock Lee from Naruto once.
Conclusion
The applause from the crowd when Coco Gauff mentioned anime goes on to show how mainstream anime has become. Not just that but from being frowned upon to getting acknowledgement at international sports matches, the anime community has come a long way.