Coco Gauff Joins LeBron James As Team USA Flagbearer For Olympics Opening Ceremony—Here’s What To Watch For
Topline
Basketball billionaire LeBron James and U.S. Open Champion Coco Gauff will fly the flag for Team USA in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony Friday, which for the first time will be held outside of a stadium and will be one of the largest in Olympics history.
United States’ forward LeBron James is the first male basketball player to be a USA opening ceremony … [+]
Key Facts
James was selected by his fellow Team USA Olympians to be the male flagbearer for the 2024 opening ceremony, which will take place July 26 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, becoming the first men’s basketball player to lead the U.S. team into the event.
Gauff, 20, will make history as the youngest person to carry the flag for Team USA, and is the first tennis player to ever do so.
This year’s opening ceremony is set to be the largest in the event’s history, with more than 300,000 spectators expected to cheer as athletes take part in the Parade of Nations.
This is the first time the opening ceremony event is being held not in a stadium, but on boats riding along the 3.7-mile route in the Seine River.
Video: Gauff Surprised By Selection
During a photo shoot with other USA tennis players, teammate Chris Eubanks surprised Gauff with the news:
Key Background
The first Parade of Parade took place in 1908, NBC reports, with only 22 delegates (nations) present. According to tradition, the parade sees athletes marching behind the flag of their country as a way to introduce the games and set the Olympics apart from other sporting competitions. The route begins at the Austerlitz Bridge and will end at the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero, where the final aspects of the ceremony will take place. James, 39, will compete at his fourth Olympics this year and previously won 2 gold medals as of 2012. He is the oldest Team USA men’s basketball player in history.
Big Number
James is the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.
What To Watch For
In addition to the slew of athletes at the parade, viewers can expect performances from famous entertainers, but organizers have been “tight-lipped,” according to NBC.
Surprising Fact
From 1936 to 1988, real pigeons were released in the opening ceremony of the Games as protocol to symbolize peace. Since 1992, however, the use of real birds has been replaced with the symbolic appearance of doves.
Sofia Chierchio is an editorial intern from New York on the SportsMoney team at Forbes. She is currently a senior at Cornell University studying communications, and is a staff writer for the Cornell Daily Sun and head manager of the university’s sprint football team.
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