‘It is such an honour,’ says Rio gold medal-winner
Sailor Hannah Mills will join rower at opening ceremony
By Sean Ingle
(THE GUARDIAN) The gold medal-winning rower Mohamed Sbihi will make history on Friday after being announced as the first Muslim to carry the British flag at an Olympic opening ceremony. He will be joined by another gold medallist, the sailor Hannah Mills, a campaigner for clean oceans and the eradication of single use plastic in sport.
It is the first time that two competitors will be able to carry the flag after the IOC announced last year that each national Olympic committee could nominate one female and one male athlete as flag bearers.
Sbihi and Mills follow in the footsteps of some of Team GB’s most legendary athletes including Andy Murray, rowers Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Steve Redgrave, and also Anita Lonsbrough, the first woman to carry the flag for Team GB in Tokyo in 1964.
Sbihi, who was plucked from his state school in Kingston by a programme that targeted schools outside rowing’s traditional public school catchment areas, spoke of his pride at being chosen.
“It is such an honour,” he said. “It is an iconic moment within the Olympic movement – people remember those images. I certainly remember the images of Andy from Rio and even before I was a rower I remember seeing Sir Matt and Sir Steve, so it is something I am incredibly proud of.
“It is going to be a surreal experience actually going to an Opening Ceremony but this year with the racing schedule it is actually manageable even if I wasn’t a flagbearer. It will be really special and will complete my Olympic puzzle.”
