World No. 2 ladies’s tennis participant Coco Gauff will be a part of Los Angeles Lakers four-time MVP LeBron James as a flag bearer for Staff USA through the opening ceremony on the 2024 Summer time Olympics in Paris on Friday.
James’ choice was a historic one for the People, as he turned the primary male basketball participant to be chosen as a flag bearer.
Gauff will make historical past in a number of methods on Friday, changing into the primary tennis participant and youngest Staff USA athlete to be chosen for the distinction. The 2023 U.S. Open champion turned 20 in March and the earlier file was held by alpine skier Cindy Nelson, who was 21 years outdated when she served as a flag bearer on the 1976 Innsbruck Winter Video games in Austria.
Gauff will probably be competing in ladies’s singles, doubles and combined doubles. She’ll play alongside world No. 6 Jessica Pegula in ladies’s doubles and males’s No. 11 Taylor Fritz within the combined competitors.
The respect marks a miraculous turnaround for Gauff, after she was pressured to overlook the Tokyo Olympics in 2021 on account of a constructive COVID take a look at.
“I by no means thought in one million years I might have the distinction of carrying the American flag for Staff USA within the opening ceremony,” Gauff mentioned in an announcement, in line with an ESPN and Reuters report. “I couldn’t be extra proud to guide my teammates with LeBron as we showcase our dedication and fervour on the most important stage there’s.”
