Coco Gauff says on being nominated Team USA’s flag bearer alongside LeBron James, “I was shocked.”
Tennis star Coco Gauff of the United States talks to CNN’s Coy Wire about her excitement to meet fellow flag carrier LeBron James and the privilege of being picked as Team USA’s female flag bearer.
Tennis player Coco Gauff posted a video to TikTok featuring LeBron James during the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris on Friday.
James and other Olympic participants are seen in the film riding a boat through the Seine River.
James remarked in the video, “What up TikTok, we’re live here at the 2024 Paris Games here with Coco Gauff.”
James appeared to be in a state of stardom when Gauff posted a video of them together on her Instagram account.
During the Opening Ceremony on Friday, James and Gauff carried the flag for Team USA. Going forward, they will aim to guide the country to victory in their individual competitions.
James is a seasoned Olympic competitor, having competed in four previous tournaments. Despite missing out on the Olympics in 2016 and 2020, he returned this year to join a group full of elite athletes. He made his debut in 2004 and assisted in leading Team USA to gold in 2008 and 2012.
James and the US men’s national team take on a Serbian team led by Nikola Jokić on Sunday to start the match.
Gauff, 20, will be competing in her first Olympic Games this year. She was unable to compete in the 2020 Tokyo Games since she tested positive for COVID-19 a few days prior to the competition. The tennis player will now try to make an impression in what will probably be many appearances.
Gauff will compete in the women’s doubles on Saturday, but she will also spend the weekend participating in the women’s singles.
During a rain-soaked and star-studded opening ceremony, tennis player Coco Gauff and NBA player Lebron James led the American delegation down the Seine River.
A lack of rain at the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympics, which was the first in over 70 years, did not appear to dampen the participants’ excitement.
James remarked, “The rain can’t stop us.” “All we can ask for is to be able to represent our country, our culture, and our origins as Black kids representing our country gives everyone so much hope where we come from,” said Coco and I. We accept it with the utmost honor and responsibility.
James boarded a boat on the Seine River with a sizable group of American athletes. Holding the flag at the bow of the boat, James bobbed his head while Gauff stood by him, both of them wearing transparent ponchos.
The Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Summer Games did not take place in a stadium for the first time in its history.
Rather, a riverside athletic procession featuring boats representing every country delegation took place. The athletes could be seen up close by television and internet spectators because to the cameras mounted aboard the boats.
For Team USA, Coco Gauff is setting the example!
On Friday, July 26, the 20-year-old tennis player made her social media debut as a flagbearer for the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics.
As the two sportsmen began the Parade of Nations, Gauff was pictured standing next to fellow Team USA flagbearer LeBron James in the first picture in the collection.
Gauff posted videos of the boat ride to both her page and Instagram Stories. In one, as the boat sailed in the direction of the Eiffel Tower, LeBron James was heard exclaiming, “Mama, we made it!” Custom Olympic rings for the games are affixed to the landmark.
The 2023 US Open champion told PEOPLE during a news conference prior to the games that her parents, mom Candi and dad Corey, were aware of her Olympic responsibility before she was.
Gauff’s parents had to send their names to security by July 23 in order for them to receive first dibs on the wonderful news, even though they only learned that she would be a flagbearer on Wednesday, July 24.
“I thought I was gonna surprise them on the phone, and [my mom] was like, ‘Yeah, I already knew,'” Gauff recalled. “I thought, ‘Yes, that’s fantastic.'” However, I’m happy that they can come and be present. They’re excited, I know that.
Gauff went on, “I was really emotional when I was talking to my mom about it.” When I learned the news, I wanted to cry, but my entire team was there, so I decided to do it in the corner. I know that this will be a memory I will remember for the rest of my life, so I will try to soak it all in. I am really startled and don’t take it for granted.
