Egonu to carry Olympic flag during Tokyo 2020 Opening Ceremony
News
Italian Volleyball superstar Paola Egonu will be one of the athletes to carry the Olympic Flag at the Opening Ceremony of the delayed Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 on Friday.
The president of the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI), Giovanni Malagò, called Egonu, 22, to convey the good news as he arrived in the Japanese capital ahead of the Games.
Paola Egonu“I am very honoured by the assignment that was given to me to carry the Olympic Flag. I am very excited since President Malagò informed me, because I find myself representing athletes from all over the world and it is a big responsibility. I will represent and parade for every athlete on this planet.”
Opposite hitter of Team Italy
Brazilian Beach Volleyball legend Emanuel Rego had this very same honour five years ago at the Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympics.
The news comes a day after Egonu scored 13 points in a friendly match against Brazil in Japan, in preparation for the Olympics, leading Italy to a 3-1 (25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 25-22) win. Italy open their Olympic campaign on Sunday at 09:00 local time (00:00 GMT) against Russia in the very first match of the women’s tournament at Ariake Arena.
It will be the second Olympics for Egonu, who made her debut at the age of 17 at the Rio 2016 Games, where Italy failed to make it out of the pool stage.
Seven Volleyball players will be acting as flag bearers for their respective countries at the Parade of Nations segment of the Opening Ceremony: China’s reigning Olympic champion Zhu Ting, Kenya's Mercy Moim, South Korea's Kim Yeon-Koung, Tunisia's Mehdi Ben Cheikh, the Dominican Republic's Prisilla Rivera, Brazil's Bruno Rezende and Maxim Mikhaylov, competing under the Russian Olympic Committee flag.
Chile's Marco Grimalt and reigning Olympic champion Laura Ludwig of Germany are the Beach Volleyball players announced as flag bearers this far.
Friday's Opening Ceremony begins at 20:00 local time (11:00 GMT).