Florent Manaudou Named France’s Flag Bearer at Olympic Opening Ceremony (Plus 11 Others)

At least 12 swimmers have been named flag bearers for their respective countries at the opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Summer Olympic Games. That includes Olympic gold medalist Florent Manaudou, who will carry the flag of the host nation France in shared duties with discus thrower Melina Robert-Michon on July 26th in the Parade of Nations.

Each country is allowed to name one male and one female flag bearer for the Parade of Nations, with most countries choosing either their most famous athlete or the athlete they expect to have the best results at the Games. The honor of flag bearer at the closing ceremonies, conversely, is usually not named until competition is almost completed and used to recognize a country’s best-performing athletes at the Games.

The 2024 ceremony will be unique in the history of the Games as athletes will be transported by boat from Pont d’Austerlitz to Pont d’Iena on the Seine past some of Paris’ most-famous landmarks.

Besides making the event accessible to many more spectators than previous ceremonies, this may also lighten the physical strain on athletes who have to compete the next day like swimmers.

Manaudou was also the first Olympic torch carrier in France as part of the Olympic Torch relay. The 33-year-old sprinter has four Olympic medals, including gold in the 50 free in 2012, silver in 2016, and silver in 2020. Manaudou is entered in only the 50 free individually for the Paris Games, and will likely have at least one relay spot after swimming a best time of 47.90 in the 100 free at the French Olympic Trials.

He is one of 12 swimmers that SwimSwam was able to identify as opening ceremony flag bearers so far, though many countries have not yet named their choices

86 swimmers carried their countries’ flags at the opening ceremonies of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, including big names like Yusra Mardini (Refugee Olympic Team), Cate Campbell (Australia), Mireia Belmonte (Spain), Laszlo Cseh (Hungary), and Chad le Clos (South Africa).

2024 Paris Olympic Flag Bearers (Swimmers)

• Aruba – Mike Schreuders and Chloe Farro, who make up two of the country’s six athletes expected to compete at the Paris 2024 Olympics in four sports. Schreuders also co-carried the flag at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
• Bolivia – Maria Jose Ribera is a national-record setting sprinter who is entered in the 50 free as a Universality swimmer at the Paris 2024 Games.
• Bulgaria – Lyubomir Epitropov, the defending European co-champion in the 200 breaststroke, will carry his country’s flag.
• El Salvador – Celina Marquez will carry her country’s flag for the second straight Olympic Games.
• Israel – Andi Murez is the second most-recognizable swimmer named a flag bearer so far. A World University Games gold medalist for the US in 2013, she now represents Israel, where she swam on a historic gold medal winning mixed medley relay at this year’s European Championships. Murez recently graduated from medical school and will begin her residency in psychiatry at the famed Mayo Clinic in Minnesota after the Olympics.
• Mauritania – Camil Ould Doua was born and raised in France and obtained Mauritanian dual citizenship in 2023 after the country’s law that would have required him to give up his French citizenship changed.
• Monaco – Theo Druenne and Lisa Pou are another all-swimmer flag bearing crew for the Olympics. This is Druenne’s second Olympic Games after he was the youngest member of the Monegasque delegation at the Olympic Games in Tokyo in 2021. Pou was a European Championship bronze medalist in open water in 2018 representing France, but switched her sporting citizenship last year.
• Nicaragua – Gerald Hernandez is one of seven Nicaraguans who will compete at the Olympic Games. The teenager finished 19th in the 400 free at the Pan American Games in October.
• Pakistan – Jehanara Nabi holds Pakistani Records in eight individual events in long course.