Naomi Osaka has done the honors, with her presence solving one of the great mysteries of the Tokyo Olympics.
The tennis star lit the cauldron Friday at Olympic Stadium at the opening ceremony of the delayed 2020 Olympics. In doing so, Osaka sent the Olympic flame soaring into the night sky in the Games’ first iconic scenes.
The identity of the last holder of the Olympic torch prior to the lighting of the cauldron always is a closely guarded secret.
Osaka, 23, is representing Japan on the Olympic stage the four-time Grand Slam winner is one of the host nation’s most-high-profile athletes.
Viewers in the United States who missed NBC’s live broadcast of the opening ceremony have two more chances to watch all the pageantry of the opening ceremony in the coming hours. NBC will air a primetime replay between 7:30 p.m. ET and midnight and an overnight replay between 12:30 a.m. to 5 a.m. on Saturday.
