There is still some getting used to, seeing professional golfers mingling among other athletes and dressing in their home country’s colors during the Opening Ceremonies of the Olympic Games. That will be the case Friday when the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics kicks off with a one-of-a-kind parade of nations down the Seine River.
But the union of a sport that only returned to the Olympics in 2016 at the Rio Games and the biggest athletic endeavor in the world becomes more enduring when pro golfers take part in the Olympic customs more traditionally associated with athlete from other events. And that will be the case Friday night as a trio of competitors participate in one of the biggest honors of the Games: carrying their home country’s flag during the Opening Ceremony.
“It's a huge honor for me and my family,” said Shane Lowry upon learning he would be the male representative from Ireland (joined by hurdler Sarah Lavin) serving as flag bearer. “Anybody who knows me knows how patriotic I am, how much I love Ireland and how much I love playing for my country. I always wear the Irish flag with pride."
Lowry's golf career includes winning the 2019 Open Championship and playing for Europe twice in the Ryder Cup. He's also competed for Ireland in several amateur golf competitions, including the World Amateur Team Championship. He also competed in the 2021 Olympics in Tokyo.
Continuing on being named flagbearer, Lowey said: “It’s something that I’m not sure you’d even dream about as a kid because it’s so far out there. To get to do something like this is something that I will remember forever.”
Other countries that have publicly revealed a golfer to be their flagbearer are Morocco’s Ines Laklalech and Paraguay’s Fabrizio Zanotti, who also did the honor back in 2021 during the Tokyo Games.
No golfers are doing the honor for the Americans, with LeBron James and Coco Gauff representing Team USA. It’s unclear how many of the seven Americans competing in the men’s and women’s golf tournaments will be in attendance on Friday. Lilia Vu and Rose Zhang are playing in tthis week’s LPGA event in Canada.
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The Paris Opening Ceremony will be the first not to take place in a traditional stadium setting but rather along a nearly four-mile water route. More than 6,500 athletes on 85 boats will sail past some of Paris’ iconic landmarks, including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre and Notre Dame Cathedral.
According to reports, each boat will be on the water for approximately 42 minutes, and once disembarked, the athletes and officials will be immediately transferred to the Trocadéro, where the final part of the opening ceremony takes place, including the lighting of the Olympic flame, which marks the official opening of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
More than 300,000 people are expected to watch the Opening Ceremony live, including 222,000 on the upper banks of the Seine and 104,000 on the lower piers. In addition, 80 giant screens will be set up around the city, with more than a billion people expected to watch at home