Coco Gauff of the United States returns a ball during a practice session ahead of the tennis competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Thursday, July 25, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
PARIS — Two athletes from most nations will carry a giant flag in boats along the Seine River at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Friday.
It is considered an honour to be selected for this duty at the Games, and for many years there was just one flagbearer for each nation. In a tradition that began at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, the delegation now selects a woman and a man to share the job during the curtain-raiser – although sometimes, if only one athlete is present, that person carries the flag alone.
This time around, six teams are competing in the same event. For example, Belize’s flag will be carried by its sole competitor, 100-meter runner Sean Gill.
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Who is the flag bearer for the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony?
A look at the flag bearers of some of the 205 teams taking part in the opening ceremony:
-UK: Helen Glover, rowing (twice gold medallist in coxless pairs) and Tom Daley, diving (Tokyo gold medallist in 10m synchronised diving and three Olympic bronze medallists)
-Canada: Maude Charron, weightlifting (Tokyo gold medallist in the 64kg category) and Andre De Grasse, athletics (Tokyo gold medallist in the 200m)
-China: Ma Long, table tennis (five-time gold medalist) and Feng Yu, artistic swimming
-Eritrea: Biniam Girmay, cycling (first black rider to win a Tour de France stage) and Christina Rach, swimming (16 years old)
-France: Mélina Robert-Michon, athletics (discus), Florent Manaudou, swimming (London gold medallist in the 50m freestyle and three-time Olympic silver medallist)
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—Greece: Antigoni Ntrisampioti, athletics (race walker) and Giannis Antetokounmpo, basketball (two-time NBA MVP, 2021 NBA champion with Milwaukee Bucks)
-Puerto Rico: Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, athletics (Tokyo gold medalist in the 100m hurdles) and Sebastian Rivera, wrestling
-Qatar: Shahad Ashraf, athletics (women’s 100m) and Mutaz Barshim, athletics (co-gold medallist in Tokyo high jump with Gianmarco Tamberi, one of the flag bearers for Italy)
— Refugee Team: Yahya Al Ghotani, taekwondo (born in Syria) and Cindy Ngamba, boxing (born in Cameroon)
– Ukraine: Elina Svitolina, tennis (Tokyo bronze medalist in women’s singles and three-time Grand Slam semifinalist) and Mykhailo Romanchuk, swimmer (Tokyo silver medalist in the 1,500m freestyle and bronze medalist in the 800m freestyle)
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-United States: Coco Gauff, tennis (US Open singles champion, French Open doubles champion) and LeBron James, basketball (four-time NBA MVP, four-time NBA champion, career scoring leader).
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