AMSTERDAM - Churandy Martina is one of the bearers of the Dutch flag on Friday 23 July during the opening ceremony for the Olympic Games in Tokyo. NOC*NSF announced this tonight. Skateboard star Keet Oldenbeuving is the second athlete to carry the flag.
The almost 37-year-old Martina starts his fifth Games, the 16-year-old Oldenbeuving is participating for the first time in a discipline that is new to the global sporting event.
For the first time, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) allows each country to have the flag carried by two athletes at the opening ceremony. The IOC wants to promote gender equality with this. “I like to put Churandy and Keet forward as the figureheads of our team,” said Van den Hoogenband. “They will soon be the face of TeamNL that will show the rest of the world what we stand for. A veteran and a rookie together as inspiration for our team and the Netherlands.”
“I'm really proud”, responded Martina with a big smile. “I really think it's a huge honor for my fifth and final Games ever. It will be a different ceremony than usual and I hope that some more athletes will follow me. But I'm sure it will be fun. I'm going to keep the flag high.”