2 Swimmers Serve as Flag Bearers for Tokyo 2020 Olympics Closing Ceremony

2020 TOKYO SUMMER OLYMPIC GAMES

• When: Water Polo: Saturday, July 24 – Saturday, August 7, 2021
  • Men’s Water Polo: Sunday, July, 25 – Sunday, August 8, 2021
• Where: Tatsumi International Swimming Centre / Tokyo, Japan
• Full aquatics schedule
• What You Need to Know
• Stream on NBC Olympics
• Results

The Closing Ceremony for the Tokyo 2020 took place today in Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium. A typhoon was threatening to cause torrential rain during the ceremonies, but at the last minute, the skies cleared.

The Tokyo 2020 Olympics faced more adversity than arguably any edition of the Games has before. But here we are, at the end of the Games. The Games that were postponed by a year due to a global pandemic. The Games that had to take place without spectators due to that pandemic. Despite all of the challenges, and the unique protocols that had to be put in place to keep the participants safe, every event was completed.

Just like the Opening Ceremony that marks the beginning of the Olympic Games, the Closing Ceremony brings the participating countries together to celebrate the end of the Games. Also like the Opening Ceremonies, each country has a flag bearer, who will hold that country’s flag while leading their delegation into the stadium.

There are 2 swimmers who served as flag bearers in today’s Closing Ceremony. Those swimmers were Bhutan’s Sungay Tenzin, who competed in the men’s 100 freestyle, and Lao People’s Democratic Republic’s Siri Arun Budcharern, who competed in the women’s 50 free.

Swimming at the Olympics is one of the earliest events, having concluded 8 days ago. Due to that, the vast majority of swimmers have already made their trips back to their home countries. That’s why there were significantly more swimmers serving as flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony versus the Closing Ceremonies.

There were, however, a number a non-swimming aquatic sports athletes who bore their country’s flag in this ceremony. Divers Jonathan Chan (Singapore), Rafael Quintero Diaz (Puerto Rico), and Pandelala Pamg (Malaysia) all served as flag bearers tonight.

Water Polo players Ioannis Fountoulis (Greece), Andro Buslje (Croatia), and Dusan Matkovic (Montengro) also carried their country’s flags. Liechtenstein’s Lara Mechnig, an artistic swimmer, carried the Liechtenstein flag as well.