Tennis star Naomi Osaka has shared a number of behind-the-scenes photographs from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Osaka shared 10 images on Instagram from Tokyo 2020 with the caption, "a Olympic collage". The carousel includes a selfie of Osaka in her uniform for lighting the Olympic Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony, pictures of Japanese cuisine, and a video of the Haitian flag flying at the Olympic Village.

It also features a picture of Osaka video-chatting with her bulldog Butta, and an image of the tennis star competing on the court at the Games.

The 23-year-old Osaka had been hoping to achieve a home Olympic gold medal at Tokyo 2020, but crashed out in the third round to Markéta Vondroušová of the Czech Republic, who went on to claim the silver medal. Belinda Bencic of Switzerland was the eventual gold medallist. 

Although her time on the court did not go as planned, Osaka played a key role in the Olympics after she was selected to light the Cauldron at the Opening Ceremony. Osaka grew up in the United States but was born in Japan, and chose to represent the country on the international stage in 2019.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka shared behind-the-scenes snaps of her time at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

"The most important thing was to deliver a message of diversity and inclusion," Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony executive producer Hioki Takayuki said of Osaka’s selection as final torchbearer. "In the end, we decided on [Osaka] because she is a great athlete and she has been delivering a variety of messages so we thought she was the best person to be the final torchbearer. It was a decision that the whole Organising Committee came to."

Osaka returned to competition at Tokyo 2020 after a period of time away from the court. She withdrew from the French Open in June after deciding to avoid press conferences at the Grand Slam, citing a need to protect her mental health. She also declined to play at Wimbledon last month.

Tennis star Naomi Osaka has shared a number of behind-the-scenes photographs from the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games

Osaka became one of the leading lights in women’s tennis after her breakthrough victory at the 2018 US Open. She went on to win the Grand Slam again in 2020, also triumphing at the Australian Open in 2019 and earlier this year.

In addition, the star has also gained significant recognition as an activist. Before each match at last year’s US Open, Osaka entered the Arthur Ashe Stadium wearing a facemask bearing the name of a victim of racism and police brutality in the United States.

Her increased profile has led to recent appearances on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Vogue Japan, Vogue Hong Kong and Time Magazine. Osaka also released a Netflix documentary last month about her journey in tennis so far, and came out with a best-selling Barbie doll.