During each Olympics opening ceremony, each country’s team is led into the event space by an athlete or delegation representative bearing his or her country’s flag. On the U.S. side, the flag-bearer is usually chosen by fellow athletes and/or team captains. The practice of carrying flags into the opening ceremony began with the 1908 Summer Games in London.
LeBron James received the U.S. flag-bearer honor for the 2024 Summer Games in Paris. Here is a rundown of other flag-bearers throughout Olympics history:
2024 — LeBron James, basketball
2020 — Sue Bird, basketball
2016 Rio — Michael Phelps, swimming
2012 London — Mariel Zagunis, fencing
2008 Beijing — Lopez Lomong, track and field
2004 Athens — Dawn Staley, basketball
2000 Sydney — Cliff Meidl, flatwater canoeing
1996 Atlanta — Bruce Baumgartner, wrestling
1992 Barcelona — Francie Larrieu Smith, track and field
1988 Seoul — Evelyn Ashford, track and field
1984 Los Angeles — Ed Burke, track and field
1976 Montreal — Gary Hall, swimming
1972 Munich — Olga Fikotova Connolly, track and field
1968 Mexico City — Janice Lee Romary, fencing
1964 Tokyo — Parry O’Brien, track and field
1960 Rome — Rafer Johnson, track and field
1956 Melbourne — Norman Armitage, fencing
1952 Helsinki — Norman Armitage, fencing
1948 London — Ralph Craig, track and field
1936 Berlin — Alfred Jochim, gymnastics
1932 Los Angeles — F. Morgan Taylor, track and field
1928 Amsterdam — L. Clarence “Bud” Houser, track and field
1924 Paris — Pat McDonald, track and field
1920 Antwerp — Pat McDonald, track and field
1912 Stockholm — George Bonhag, track and field
1908 London — Ralph Rose, track and field
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