The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Bird selected as flag bearer for Opening Ceremonies
Women’s basketball star Sue Bird will serve as a flag bearer for the United States during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympics on Friday, NBC reported on TODAY.
Bird, 40, will share the honors with Eddy Alvarez, an infielder for USA Baseball.
Bird and Alvarez, voted on and chosen by their fellow Olympic athletes, will become the first duo to share the honors of carrying the flag during the Opening Ceremony. One person has typically served as flag bearer in the Olympics, but the International Olympic Committee encouraged one male and one female to represent each nation as a symbol of gender parity.
This is the fifth Olympics for Bird, the former UConn All-American, as she becomes the first basketball player to be selected as a flag bearer since current Team USA coach Dawn Staley in 2004.
“It’s an incredible honor to be selected the flag bearer for Team USA,” Bird said in Team’s USA’s release. “I know what that means, because I got to witness Dawn Staley go through it when she was selected in 2004. It’s an honor that is bigger than the moment in that you’ve been selected by your fellow Team USA athletes to represent the entire delegation, and it will last forever.
“Also, I know this isn’t about me. This is about all the players who either came before me and set the tone for what the USA Basketball women’s program is now, and also the players that I’ve been fortunate enough to play with. So, it’s not just about me. It’s representing all of them.”
Diana Taurasi, Bird’s Team USA teammate, was the first person to tell Bird she had been chosen during the team’s practice on Wednesday.
“I found out earlier today in practice at like noon and at that point nobody was awake,” Bird told media during Wednesday’s press conference. “Obviously my teammates were around so
I got to share it with them, which was amazing because Diana (Taurasi) was actually the one that officially gave me the news and that’s only fitting because she could easily be the flag bearer and she’s someone that has made all my Olympic experiences so special. So that was really cool.”
Alvarez, 31, plays with the Miami Marlins. He won a silver medal in speedskating at the 2014 Winter Olympics and is the first Winter Games medalist to play in the MLB. He becomes the first baseball player to be named an Olympic flag bearer.
“It is an honor and a privilege to be named as one of the flag bearers by my fellow Team USA athletes for the Opening Ceremony,” Alvarez said in Team USA’s release. “Being a first-generation CubanAmerican, my story represents the American Dream. My family has sacrificed so much for me to have the opportunity to wave this flag proudly. I am grateful for my time with US Speedskating and USA Baseball, as well as for all of my teammates, and I am humbled to lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympic Games.”
As an upcoming host country (Los Angeles will host the 2028 Olympic Games), the United States will be one of the final three delegations to walk in the Opening ceremony on Friday. Out of Team USA’s 613 athletes, over 230 will walk in the ceremony following Bird and Alvarez. NBC will broadcast the ceremony live at 6:55 a.m. ET and run a replay of the event in primetime at 7: 30 p.m.