Naomi Osaka lights Tokyo's Olympic flame
Naomi Osaka lit the Tokyo Olympic flame. In what may be the toughest year of your career, it can also illuminate your own path.
by SID
last edit: Jul 23, 2021, 06:29 pm
It was just before midnight in Tokyo when Naomi Osaka lit up the Olympics. Her path to inner peace has been rocky and arduous in recent years, but she took these last steps up to the gigantic flame bowl with ease. In the white dress of the torchbearer, long red extensions in the black hair, Japan's world tennis star lit the flame that will flicker over the Tokyo games for the next 16 days. And maybe also illuminate Osaka's own path again.
"This is without a doubt my greatest sporting moment - and the greatest honor I will ever experience," wrote Osaka on Twitter. Words fail to adequately describe my feelings, but I feel great humility and gratitude. "
Hours before the opening, first assumptions had been made. All of a sudden, Osaka's scheduled match for Saturday morning was canceled, but initially there was no explanation for this. Twelve hours later came the resolution that almost everyone had expected.
Suddenly Naomi Osaka is everywhere. On the cover of Vogue, in a Netflix documentary, in a swimsuit on the cover of Sports Illustrated, with a guest article in Time Magazine. For weeks, the four-time Grand Slam winner, who repeatedly struggles with depression, went into hiding, she even skipped Wimbledon. Now she is back in the big hustle and bustle.
Osaka have to do without the support of the fans
Osaka has ended her break from the tennis circuit for the dream of a gold medal in her own country. In Tokyo, she returns to the spotlight as the great hope of the Japanese, which she had deliberately avoided recently. Osaka is a mega-star in her mother's homeland, the biggest that Japan currently has to offer.
"Having the opportunity to play in front of the Japanese fans is a dream come true," Osaka wrote in Time Magazine. On the pitch, she will have to do without the support of her supporters, but her matches should generate the best ratings in the host country: "I hope I can make you proud."
The 23-year-old has used the time since her noisy withdrawal from the French Open to recharge and reflect. At the end of May she caused a sensation with her decision not to play her second round match in Paris. This was preceded by a controversial press boycott, which Osaka had opted for "out of self-care" with a view to her mental health.
Barty starts as number one
At the Olympics, however, the introverted athlete's gaze is now back on the sport. Osaka, the daughter of a Haitian and a Japanese woman, is one of the absolute top favorites for the gold medal on hard courts. She has won the Australian Open twice and the US Open twice on her favorite surface.
The competition is strong despite several cancellations such as from the German number one Angelique Kerber (Kiel) or from Victoria Azarenka (Belarus). The world number one Ashleigh Barty (Australia) starts in the Ariake Tennis Park with the great self-confidence of a newly crowned Wimbledon winner, among others the world number three Arina Sabalenka (Belarus) is lurking.