LeBron James and Coco Gauff will carry the Stars and Stripes aloft at Paris Olympics
| Paris
Tennis star Coco Gauff and basketball legend LeBron James have been picked as flagbearers for the U.S. Olympic team at the opening ceremony on July 26.
Ms. Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is set to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games and will be the first tennis athlete to carry the U.S. flag. She and Mr. James were chosen by Team USA athletes.
“I mean, for me, the Olympics is a top priority. I would say equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn’t put it above or below, just because I’ve never played before. This is my first time,” Ms. Gauff said earlier this year. “Obviously, I always want to do well, try to get a medal.”
Ms. Gauff and Mr. James, the 39-year-old leading scorer in NBA history, both compete in sports that are outside the traditional Olympic world and get attention year-round, not just every four years.
The 20-year-old Ms. Gauff made the American team for the Tokyo Games three years ago as a teenager but had to sit out those Olympics because she tested positive for COVID-19 right before she was supposed to fly to Japan.
Now Ms. Gauff, who is based in Florida, is a Grand Slam title winner in singles and doubles. She won her first major championship in New York in September, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the singles final of the U.S. Open, then added her first Grand Slam doubles trophy at the French Open this June alongside Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.
Mr. James becomes the third basketball player – and the first men’s player – to carry the U.S. flag at the start of an Olympics, joining Dawn Staley for the Athens Games in 2004 and Sue Bird for the Tokyo Games that happened in 2021.
“It’s an incredible honor to represent the United States on this global stage, especially in a moment that can bring the whole world together,” Mr. James said. “For a kid from Akron, this responsibility means everything to not only myself, but to my family, all the kids in my hometown, my teammates, fellow Olympians, and so many people across the country with big aspirations. Sports have the power to bring us all together, and I’m proud to be a part of this important moment.”
The same tennis courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open will be where matches will be held for the Paris Olympics. The draw to set the brackets is July 25, and play begins on July 27.
Ms. Gauff is seeded No. 2 in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and will be among the medal favorites.
She and her usual doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded No. 1 in women’s doubles. It’s possible Ms. Gauff could also be entered in mixed doubles, but those pairings have not been announced yet.
“I’m not putting too much pressure on it, because I really want to fully indulge in the experience,” Ms. Gauff said about her Olympics debut. “Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, [but] I’ll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience.”
The International Olympic Committee decided in 2020 that national delegations would have two flagbearers – one male, one female – at the opening ceremony at an Olympics, a move to promote gender parity. The U.S. is expected to have nearly 600 athletes in the Paris Games, about 53% of them female.
“Being selected by your teammates to carry the flag is a tremendous honor – and a testament to LeBron’s passion for Team USA and his dedication to his sport,” U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee CEO Sarah Hirshland said.
Mr. James – a global icon, a four-time NBA champion, and the league’s all-time leading scorer set to go into his record-tying 22nd NBA season – is set to play in the Olympics for the fourth time, after he was part of U.S. teams that won bronze in 2004, gold at Beijing in 2008, and gold again in London in 2012. He walked in the opening ceremony at each of his three previous Olympics.
This time, he and Ms. Gauff will float.
This will be an opening ceremony like none other in Olympic history: Thousands of athletes will be part of a flotilla sailing along the River Seine at sunset toward the Eiffel Tower. It’s a 6-kilometer (3.7-mile) route, with about 320,000 guests set to watch from the river bank and about 1 billion more, Olympic officials estimate, watching on televisions around the world.
Not all Olympic athletes take part in the opening ceremony; many skip it for logistical reasons, such as having to compete the following day. Mr. James and the four-time defending gold medalist U.S. men’s basketball team don’t play until July 28, when they face Serbia at Lille, France.
Mr. James, Ms. Gauff, and the U.S. Olympians will be waiting longer than almost any other nation for their trip on the Seine. By IOC custom, Greece – which will have NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo as one of its two flagbearers – will lead the procession, followed by the Refugee Olympic Team and then about 200 more national delegations. The U.S. is scheduled to go next-to-last in the procession because Los Angeles will play host to the next Summer Games in 2028. France, as the host, will be the final nation in the opening ceremony procession.
This story was reported by The Associated Press.
