Tennis player Coco Gauff trains ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics at Roland-Garros, where he will join LeBron James in raising the American flag during the opening ceremony.
Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
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Clive Brunskill/Getty Images
PARIS – Tennis star Coco Gauff will serve as the female flag bearer for the United States at this week’s Olympic opening ceremonies in Paris, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced Wednesday.
Hundreds of U.S. athletes will take a boat ride along the Seine through central Paris in Friday’s opening game, where the 20-year-old Gauff will join basketball superstar LeBron James in hoisting the American flag. Both Goff and James were voted in by other Team USA competitors.
Goff will be the youngest American flag-bearer at the Olympic opening ceremony. (Gymnast Simone Biles raised the American flag at the 2016 closing ceremony in Rio de Janeiro when she was 19.) Gauff will also be the first tennis player to win the honor.
“I never thought in a million years that I would have the honor of carrying the American flag for Team USA at the Opening Ceremony,” Goff said. “I’m extremely proud to be with LeBron as we showcase our dedication and passion.” Leading my teammates together on the biggest stage – a moment where we can bring together athletes and fans from around the world.
Gauff is currently ranked the second-ranked female player in the world by the Women’s Tennis Association. She won the US Open in 2023, her first Grand Slam title.
This year marks Gauff’s first Olympic appearance after she was forced to withdraw from the 2021 Tokyo Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19.
For this summer’s Olympics, the tennis competition will be held at Roland Garros, the legendary venue that hosts the French Open every year. Gauff reached the semifinals of the event last month but lost to No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, the top seed in the Olympic singles event and the gold medal favorite.
