Sports
Column: Shohei Ohtani's marriage announcement felt strange, but not if you know Japanese culture
Before Shohei Ohtani became Japan’s most popular athlete, that designation belonged to figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu.
Like Ohtani, Hanyu is 29.
Like Ohtani, Hanyu was born and raised in the Tohoku region, the northern part of Japan’s mainland.
Last year, the retired Hanyu announced on social media that he was married. Three months later, he returned to the same platform with another announcement.
He was divorced.
The two-time Olympic gold medalist said his family was harassed and became the unwanted subjects of media inquiries and reports. The identity of his wife, which Hanyu had kept secret, was divulged by a weekly tabloid magazine.
“When I thought about my future,” Hanyu wrote in Japanese, “I wanted my spouse to be happy, to have limitless happiness, so I made the decision to divorce.”
Hanyu’s story helps make sense of the bizarre manner in which Ohtani revealed his own nuptials this week.
Announcing a marriage on Instagram and holding a news conference on the subject but refusing to share the spouse’s name might strike Americans as peculiar. However, by the standards of Japanese culture — especially Japanese celebrity culture — nothing about this was abnormal.
To begin with, a person’s work and personal lives are more clearly delineated in Japan than in the United States. Romantic partners are rarely invited to work-related social functions, for example. Plus-ones aren’t a standard feature of wedding invitations.
Athletes typically keep their relationships private until they are married, which is why news of their unions often feel as if they come out of nowhere. Ohtani’s marriage was described by the Japanese media as a “shock wedding,” even though Ohtani said he got engaged last year.
Some Japanese baseball players married well-known sportscasters, including Ichiro Suzuki, Yusei Kikuchi and Kenta Maeda. Yu Darvish married a world champion Greco-Roman wrestler. Their wives already had public profiles before they were married; they continued to maintain them after. But in cases in which a player married an ippanjin — or civilian — the spouses remained anonymous. Hideki Matsui was one of the most popular Japanese players of all-time, and not much is known about his ippanjin wife to this day.
Japanese figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu poses with his gold medal during the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
(David J. Phillip / Associated Press)
Ohtani said he wed a “normal” Japanese woman, so the expectation is that she will attempt to stay in the shadows.
The marriage was announced in a message Ohtani posted in Japanese on his Instagram account. In the post’s comments section, another message was posted, this one in English. The contents of the two messages were similar but not the same.
In the Japanese one, Ohtani said he would speak to reporters the next day and asked journalists to refrain from contacting his or his wife’s families. Ultimately, this was what Ohtani wanted to communicate. In exchange for sharing some details about his relationship, he was asking for privacy.
Ohtani indirectly repeated his request when he addressed the media at the Dodgers spring training complex. Asked why he made the announcement, he said jokingly in Japanese, “If I didn’t (and you found out), you’d make a fuss.” The implication was that because he was addressing the situation, the Japanese media shouldn’t make a fuss.
If Ohtani was any other player, the media would likely oblige him. But Ohtani isn’t any other player. There is no American equivalent to him. He has become to Japan what Diego Maradona was to Argentina or what Julio César Chávez was to Mexico, an athlete who projects the virtues of his culture to the world. Japanese parents want their boys to grow up to be like him. Women dreamed of marrying him. (There were reports of women skipping work because they were devastated to learn he was taken.)
Ohtani isn’t just famous. He’s famous in a country in which the spotlight on celebrities is particularly intense. Japan has fewer television stations and fewer entertainment options than the United States. When an athlete or entertainer becomes well known, they become unavoidable. Virtually everyone knows who they are.
The dynamic has resulted in Ohtani’s marriage being treated as if it’s a royal wedding, with Japanese television stations interrupting on-air programs to relay the news. There will be an appetite for information about Ohtani’s relationship, particularly about the identity of his wife, and the country’s notoriously aggressive tabloid magazines are certain to do everything in their power to satisfy that hunger.
Last year, Ohtani conducted an interview as part of an advertising campaign in which he described his vision for his home life.
“Including marriage in children — how do I say this? — I’d like to live in peace,” Ohtani said. “I think having a peaceful soul is better than anything. I’d like my private life to be like that.”
Hanyu was deprived of such an experience.
Hanyu’s cautionary tale should make the Japanese public sympathetic to Ohtani’s request for privacy, but that alone won’t ensure it. Ohtani had to know this, which is why additional measures were taken. The way he announced his marriage might not have made sense to American audiences, but they did to anyone familiar with his culture.
Sports
Golf star records lowest round in LPGA major history with astounding performance at Evian Championship
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There are good days on the golf course, and then there is what Haeran Ryu just did on Saturday.
Ryu, 25, recorded the lowest round in LPGA major history on Saturday with an 11-under 60 at the Evian Championship. With the South Korean golfer’s historic round, she holds a three-stroke lead.
Ryu’s round comes just two weeks after winning her first major at the Women’s PGA Championship. On the 18th hole, Ryu left a 30-foot eagle putt a few inches short, and instead settled for a birdie.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea reacts on the 18th green after the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
She said after the round that she had no idea what she had done until she counted up her scorecard.
“But after the putt and I counted my score with my caddie,” she said. “Oh my God, it’s 11-under par today. It was so amazing. My caddie says, ‘Yep.’ I’m so happy right now.”
If Ryu had made the eagle putt on the 18th hole, she would have been just the second player to shoot a 59 in LPGA history.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea celebrates a birdie on the 15th green during the third round of The Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club on July 11, 2026, in Evian-les-Bains, France. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Her 60 broke the record for the lowest round in an LPGA major by one shot. Leona Maguire and Jeungeun Lee6 in 2021, and Hyo Joo Kim in 2014, each shot 61 at the Evian Championship, which was designated as an LPGA major in 2013.
The lowest round in a men’s major is 62, which is shared by four players — Branden Grace at Royal Birkdale in the 2017 British Open, Xander Schauffele and Rickie Fowler in the 2023 U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, and Schauffele and Shane Lowry in the 2024 PGA Championship at Valhalla.
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Haeran Ryu of South Korea and Lottie Woad of England interact after their round on the 18th green during the third round of the Amundi Evian Championship at Evian Resort Golf Club in Evian-les-Bains, France, on July 11, 2026. (Stuart Franklin/Getty Images)
Ryu hopes her historic third round can help propel her to a second major win in three weeks.
“That is amazing, amazing dream,” Ryu said. “So I just want that one to come true, but we have one more day.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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Taylor Crabb is no stranger to South California beaches. The Long Beach State alum returns home this weekend to compete in AVP League matches.
It marks the first time AVP will compete in Long Beach since 2020 and allows players to compete at the 2028 Olympics beach volleyball venue.
Crabb, 34, made his AVP debut in 2013 with his brother, Trevor, and advanced from the qualifier in Manhattan Beach before finishing 25th in his first tournament.
After years of competing with various different partners, Taylor Crabb and Andy Benesh have delivered the top performances this AVP season.
The following interview with Crabb has been edited for clarity and length.
Are you excited to compete in this weekend’s event at Long Beach?
Crabb: Very excited. A lot of my college teammates and part of the school have reached out, saying that they’re gonna come. So I’m excited to get a chance to play in front of them again.
When was the last time you were in Long Beach?
Crabb: I always try to go down there for alumni events or any big games they have. I went to UCLA against Long Beach last year, when it was No. 1 versus No. 2, so I always try to get down there and support them.
You missed out on the chance to compete in the 2020 Olympics because of COVID-19 restrictions and chose not to pursue a spot at the 2024 Olympics. Are you fired up to try to compete in the 2028 Olympics, knowing that Long Beach will host the competition?
Crabb: Yeah, it’s definitely an exciting time having the Olympics in Long Beach, and we kind of get to break it in this weekend. As you said, Tokyo didn’t go the way I wanted, but I’m going full force now. I have a great partner in Andy Benesh, who obviously went to the Paris Olympics, and if it weren’t for the Olympics being in Long Beach, and me getting a partner like Andy, I’m not even sure I’d be going for it, but because of those two things, I want to make the most of it.
You mentioned that if it wasn’t for a partner like Andy, you wouldn’t be going for it. What do you mean by that?
Crabb: I didn’t feel motivated by playing in all the international events, but now, I think, sitting out kind of lit the fire under me, and I’m really motivated now.
You’ve had different partners throughout your time. What other motivation does Andy give you?
Crabb: He’s been, in my mind, the top blocker for the U.S. the last four or five years. Seeing the professionalism he brings every day to practice, on and off the court, while traveling and when showing up to tournaments, it rubs off on you and that’s really motivating to see. And I just want to make him proud.
Why do you love volleyball?
Crabb: A lot of reasons, but it’s just a feeling I have when I’m out there on the court. It feels natural. It feels like home. I was born into a volleyball family. I had a volleyball in my hands my entire life, so I’ve always just enjoyed it.
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CM Punk appeared on “Friday Night SmackDown” ready to take on any challenger that was ready to step to him after winning the Undisputed WWE Championship against Sami Zayn.
Punk entered the ring in Oklahoma City and called back to the “Monday Night Raw” after WrestleMania 42 when he told Cody Rhodes he’d be ready to deliver if a championship opportunity fell “out of the sky.”
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Cody Rhodes and CM Punk face off during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
“When championship opportunities fall out of the sky, CM Punk catches them,” he said.
Punk named potential SmackDown superstars he’d think might come for the title, including Gunther, Finn Balor, Royce Keys, Damian Priest and Trick Williams. He even said that Zayn could come back around and get his rematch if he wanted. He didn’t mention Rhodes’ name, but the “American Nightmare” came out uncalled and marched his way down to the ring.
“I don’t think you and I can run away from each other anymore,” Punk told Rhodes.
Cody Rhodes looks on during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Craig Ambrosio/WWE via Getty Images)
Rhodes agreed and mentioned that Punk would want a match with him, just “say when.” It was a quick retort from Punk, who said, “when.” SmackDown general manager Nick Aldis, who was in the ring for the segment, booked the match for SummerSlam.
Punk will defend the Undisputed WWE Championship at SummerSlam, which takes place Aug. 1 and 2 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.
First, however, Punk and Rhodes will be involved in a tag team match at Saturday Night’s Main Event in New York City next week. Aldis made the match after Gunther demanded that Aldis put him in a match against Punk. Gunther was hoping it would be for the championship. Instead, Gunther will tag with Zayn.
Gunther didn’t take too kindly to that and attacked Aldis. Rhodes came back out to break up the calamity. He wanted to take on Gunther after the show went off air but Gunther walked away.
Gunther makes his entrance during SmackDown at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City, Okla., on July 10, 2026. (Rich Wade/WWE via Getty Images)
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Punk definitely has his hands full as he moves to SmackDown to become a fighting champion.
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