Icons Tai Tzu Ying and Pusarla V. Sindhu are among eight badminton players who will lead their respective contingents as flag-bearers during the Opening Ceremony at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games later today.
Tai, silver medallist at Tokyo 2020, and Pusarla, silver and bronze medallist at the last two Olympics, will bear the flag for Chinese Taipei and India respectively during the ceremony which will kick off the world’s biggest sporting spectacle.
Interestingly, Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon will be a flagbearer for the second time, having had the honour at London 2012 too.
Paris 2024 will see an unprecedented number of badminton players as flagbearers. Apart from Tai and Pusarla, the list includes Uriel Francisco Canjura Artiga (El Salvador), Kevin Cordon (Guatemala), Thet Htar Thuzar (Myanmar), Anuoluwapo Juwon Opeyori (Nigeria), Viren Nettasinghe (Sri Lanka), and Le Duc Phat (Vietnam).
The eight representatives at Paris are the highest ever at the Olympics, ahead of six at Tokyo 2020 and five at Rio 2016.
Past flagbearers who are competing at Paris include Loh Kean Yew (Singapore), Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong China), Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia), Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (Maldives), Kate Foo Kune (Mauritius – Rio 2016), Soren Opti (Suriname – Rio 2016), Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand – Rio 2016) and Kevin Cordon (Guatemala – London 2012).
Here is the complete list of badminton players who served as flagbearers:
ATLANTA 1996
Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen (Denmark)
SYDNEY 2000
Rexy Mainaky (Indonesia)
ATHENS 2004
Ronald Susilo (Singapore)
BEIJING 2008
Georgie Cupidon (Seychelles)
LONDON 2012
Petr Koukal (Czech Republic), Mohamed Ajfan Rasheed (Maldives)
RIO 2016
Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia), Kate Foo Kune (Mauritius), Zi Liang Derek Wong (Singapore), Soren Opti (Suriname) and Ratchanok Intanon (Thailand)
TOKYO 2020
Loh Kean Yew (Singapore), Mahoor Shahzad (Pakistan), Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong China), Goh Liu Ying and Lee Zii Jia (Malaysia) and Fathimath Nabaaha Abdul Razzaq (Maldives)