Chad le Clos & Phumelela Mbande Chosen as Flag Bearers for Team SA at Tokyo Olympics Opening Ceremony
- The opening ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics will be taking place today and Team SA has chosen who the flag bearers will be
- Chad le Clos and Phumelela Mbande have been selected to fly the South African flag high at the opening ceremony of the Games
- The president of SASCOC has congratulated them and believes it was a good decision to select them for the task
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Chad le Clos, a South African swimmer, and Phumelela Mbande, the goalkeeper for the South African women's hockey team, will fly the national flag at the Olympic Games opening ceremony in Tokyo, Japan.
Today at 1pm SA time, Le Clos and Mbande will lead SA at the opening ceremony at the Olympic Stadium in Tokyo. The two flag bearers were announced by the SA Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee (SASCOC) yesterday.
Source: Instagram
Following the International Olympic Committee's request, two athletes, male and female, will carry their national flags for their countries at the opening ceremony for the first time, according to The Sowetan.
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Barry Hendricks, the president of SASCOC, arrived in Tokyo ahead of Friday's opening ceremony and congratulated Le Clos and Mbande on the achievement.
“In previous Games, there was one flagbearer for a country at the opening ceremony and one at the closing ceremony. In a welcome change, the IOC adopted a resolution that each national Olympic committee could nominate one female and one male athlete as flagbearers," said Hendricks, according to Team SA.
“Both Chad and Phumelela are role models and inspirations for their respective sports and we’re proud to have them carrying the flag for our wonderful nation,” Hendricks added.
Football legend Matthew Booth reflects on SA football team's chances
Briefly News reported that the expectations for the South African U/23 football team in the Olympics are high. It's a squad made up of the most talented players in their age group and Mzansi will be waiting for the boys to bring back a gold medal.
Speaking exclusively to Briefly News, former Bafana Bafana player Matthew Booth thinks that the players have the depth needed to bring positive results. Booth has experience playing for the U/23s himself and was in the Olympic team back in 2000, serving as the captain.
"I certainly believe that they have a talented squad and it's a bit of an ask for them to go all the way for gold but it would be fantastic for them to get out of the group stages and into the knockouts," said Booth.
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Source: Briefly News
