Naomi Osaka Lights Olympic Cauldron During Tokyo Opening Ceremony

Naomi Osaka delivered the iconic start to the Summer Olympic Games during the Opening Ceremony today (July 23) by having the honor of lighting the Olympic cauldron.

The famous Japanese-born tennis star will compete in tennis at the Tokyo Olympics and be a member of Team Japan.

Osaka shared via Twitter about the moment, “Definitely the greatest sporting achievement and honor I have had in my life. I have no words to describe how I feel right now but I know I am filled with gratitude and gratitude right now. Love you guys, thank you. “

Osaka has come under fire for its decision to represent Japan at the Olympics. Insider.com noted, “Osaka announced that she will give up her US citizenship in 2019. The tennis star was born in Japan but moved to New York at the age of 3 before holding dual US and Japanese citizenship. But according to Japan’s Nationality Act, dual nationals must choose one nationality before their 22nd birthday.

Osaka also said in her self-titled Netflix documentary, “I’ve been playing under the Japanese flag since I was 14 years old. It was never even a secret that I would play for Japan in the Olympics. So I didn’t pick the US and suddenly people were saying, ‘Your black card is revoked.’ And it’s like, African Americans aren’t the only black people, you know? I don’t know, I feel like people really don’t know the difference between nationality and race because there’s a lot of Black people in Brazil, but they’re Brazilian.”

Erica Banas is a classical rock/rock news blogger who is well versed in etiquette and extremely kind.