Milan Cortina: 31 countries will parade in the ceremony with a single flag bearer

Bormio (Sondrio), February 6 (LaPresse) – Of the 92 countries participating in the Milan Cortina Games, 31 will parade at the opening ceremony with only one flag bearer. Having two flag bearers for each country is a recent development. Until the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, only one athlete per participating nation was chosen for the opening ceremony, when a rule change allowed one male and one female athlete to carry the flag. The change in protocol was announced by the IOC on March 4, 2020. The initiative was introduced to promote gender equality and send a message of inclusion right from the opening ceremony. The rule is not mandatory, but it is an option that the IOC “strongly encourages” all National Olympic Committees (NOCs) to use. The following countries (some of which have only one representative athlete) will march with a single flag bearer: Greece, Saudi Arabia, Benin, Bolivia, China, Colombia, Croatia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Guinea Bissau, Haiti, Hong Kong, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Malaysia, Malta, Morocco, Montenegro, Nigeria, Pakistan, Puerto Rico, San Marino, Singapore, Turkey, Ukraine, Uruguay, and Venezuela. Italy will parade with four flag bearers: Federico Pellegrino and Arianna Fontana in Milan, and Amos Mosaner and Federica Brignone in Cortina.