A closer look at AANHPI athletes and their impact on the sports landscape

In the 1940s, several AANHPI athletes across North America became “firsts'' in their sports, blazing a trail for generations of athletes to come. The first of the firsts was former NY Knick Wataru Misaka, who became the NBA’s first Asian American and first non-white player in 1947.

• A year later, in 1948, Larry Kwong joined the NY Rangers as the NHL’s first Asian Canadian player and diver Victoria Manalo Draves became the first-ever Asian American Olympic champion in 1948.

But their journeys sadly came with the added obstacle of racism. Draves was initially forced to use her English mother’s maiden name while competing, while Kwong only played one minute in the NHL (though was a star in other leagues). As one of his friends said, “It was hard to catch a break when you looked like Larry did.”

Fast forward 50 years and AANHPI athletes continue to leave their mark on the historically white sports landscape. One high-profile example? Figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi.

• Yamaguchi became an American sports icon when she won Olympic gold in 1992 and also paved the way for Asian Americans in a sport often described as “the domain of white Americans and Europeans.” Inclusivity wins gold medals.

This generation of AANHPI athletes is successfully carrying the torch, emerging as champions in their respective sports, ranging from college to the Olympics.

• Look no further than gymnast Suni Lee, who followed up her Tokyo Games gold medal victory with an NCAA individual national championship on the balance beam for Auburn the following year.

• On the ice, there’s been significant Filipino-American and Canadian representation, especially in this year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with brothers and left wingers Jason Robertson (Dallas Stars) and Nicholas Robertson (Toronto Maple Leafs), and Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Matt Dumba suiting up and inspiring Asian hockey players.

AANHPI athletes from around the world are earning the spotlight, too. LA Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani is leaving his mark in MLB, signing a first-of-its-kind contract during the offseason, while Australian soccer star Sam Kerr was the face of the record-breaking FIFA Women’s World Cup Down Under last July.

• New Zealand’s Lydia Ko is one win away from more history on the LPGA Tour, while Chinese freestyle skier and two-time Olympic gold medalist Eileen Gu inspired girls around the world to pick up the sport after dominating in Beijing in 2022.

Women’s sports also reached new heights in Asia last year with the inaugural Women’s Premier League (WPL) season. The Indian cricket league began with a bang — Paramount’s Viacom18 paid $116M for broadcast rights, team owners forked over a cumulative $573M to join the league, and around 50K fans attended the first-ever WPL final in March 2023.

Away from the field of play, Asians, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders are changing the game. Hawaiian congresswoman Patsy Mink was already a trailblazer as the first woman of color elected to the U.S. Congress in 1964, but she ushered in an entirely new era in American sports as one of the chief architects behind Title IX.

Off-the-field AANHPI power players are still blazing trails five decades later. The Miami Heat’s Erik Spoelstra became the NBA’s first Asian head coach in 2008, while Rich Cho was tapped as the league’s first Asian general manager (GM) in 2010, leading the aptly named Portland Trail Blazers.

• In 2020, the Miami Marlins’ Kim Ng became MLB’s first female GM. Two years later, LA Kings trainer Aisha Visram was the first South Asian (and second-ever woman) to serve behind an NHL bench, and Michele Kang became the first woman of color to own an NWSL team.

• Asians are also earning spots at the highest levels of sports media. Mina Kimes spits facts about the NFL on the regular for ESPN, while LA Dodgers’ play-by-play broadcaster Stephen Nelson is the only Asian announcer in MLB.

Plus, AANHPI athletes are making an impact on sports in more ways than one. Gold medal-winning snowboarder Chloe Kim is one of four iconic female athletes who founded Togethxr, a media company dedicated to women’s sports. Tennis icon Naomi Osaka, meanwhile, is building quite the business résumé when she isn’t hitting the court.

• Osaka’s portfolio includes sunscreen line Kinlò, with products designed specifically for melanated skin, and production company Hana Kuma. One of her first projects? A documentary about Congresswoman Mink. Game recognizing game.

The sports world often fails to tackle racism directed at AANHPI athletes, which, at times, has tarnished memorable, hard-earned moments in players’ careers. For example, basketball player Jeremy Lin said he was on the receiving end of racist comments in the midst of his incredible “Linsanity'' run during the 2011–12 NBA season.

Racism towards Asians hit a new low during the COVID-19 pandemic, with ripple effects felt on sports’ biggest stages. Several Asian athletes received hateful messages on social media during the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Prominent AANHPI athletes are tackling racism by telling their stories. Before winning gold in Beijing, Kim penned an essay about how she felt “ashamed” to be Korean because of normalized racism. “Now I am so proud to be Korean American. I was nervous to share my experiences with racism, but we need to hear more of these conversations.”