HISTORY AS ROWER FLIES FLAG FOR TEAM GB
ROWER Mohamed Sbihi and sailor Hannah Mills are to carry the Union flag at the Olympic opening ceremony in Tokyo tomorrow. Sbihi will make history when he becomes the first Muslim to head the Team GB contingent. The 33-year-old, who won gold in the men’s coxless fours in Rio, will compete in the men’s eight this time. Sbihi and Mills follow in the footsteps of Andy Murray and Steve Redgrave.
TEAM GB athletes today told of their excitement ahead of the Olympics opening ceremony in Tokyo tomorrow — billed as the greatest show on earth.
With diver Tom Daley again chasing gold at his fourth Games and star swimmer Adam Peaty aiming to make history, Team GB also features three sets of twins including Jennifer and Jessica Gadirova, 16, from Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, who are competing in artistic gymnastics.
Jessica said: “We’re getting excited but nervous. It’s surreal we’re here and about to compete in the Olympics.”
Rower Mohamed Sbihi, 33, and sailor Hannah Mills also told of their pride at being the Team GB flag bearers. Sbihi, who is competing in his third Games, said: “It is an iconic moment within the Olympic movement — people remember those images.”
They will follow in the footsteps of athletes including tennis star Andy Murray, Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent, Sir Chris Hoy and Anita Lonsbrough, the first woman to carry the flag for Team GB in Tokyo in 1964.
Sbihi, from Kingston upon Thames, won gold in the men’s coxless fours in Rio and will compete in the men’s eight at Tokyo 2020. He added: “I certainly remember the images of Andy from Rio and even before I was a rower, I remember seeing Sir Matt and Sir Steve, so it is something I am incredibly proud of.”
Mills, also 33, who will be defending her title in the women’s 470 class, said being chosen by a Team GB panel was “completely overwhelming” and she “got pretty emotional”. The campaigner for clean oceans and the eradication of single use plastic in sport, said of being a flag bearer: “It is the greatest honour in my career and I hope more than ever before that this Games can lift our country and deliver some incredible sporting moments.”
The opening ceremony will mark the start of two weeks of competition for an Olympics that was postponed for 12 months because of the pandemic. Only about 950 people will be in the stadium for the launch, with spectators banned to prevent the spread of coronavirus.
Jill Biden, the US First Lady, will attend along with Emperor Naruhito, who is reportedly refusing to use the word “celebration” in his opening address because of sensitivity in Japan over the timing of the Games. A poll found 55 per cent were opposed to holding the Olympics, amid fears it could become a super-spreader event. At the ceremony, the flags will be disinfected and teams will be kept well apart in their bubbles.
Today the Games suffered another blow when Kentaro Kobayashi, the director of the opening ceremony, was fired because of an anti-Semitic joke he made during a comedy show in 1998. Earlier this week, composer Keigo Oyamada, whose music was to be used at the ceremony, was forced to resign because of alleged past bullying of his classmates.
Four more residents of the Olympic Village, including two athletes, have tested positive for Covid, bringing the total to 91.