Beijing, China, January 31, 2022: Host nation China has named its two flagbearers for the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics on February 4.
Speed skater Gao Tingyu and skeleton athlete Zhao Dan will have the honour of carrying the national flag into the Bird’s Nest Stadium as China, in keeping with the new Olympic protocol for gender equity, named a male and female flagbearer.
Gao, 24, won a bronze medal in the men’s 500 metres at PyeongChang 2018, becoming the first Chinese male athlete to win an Olympic medal in speed skating.
He is in good form this season, with a personal best time in the 500m and a gold and silver medal on the World Cup circuit. Gao is based at the Heilongjiang Province Ice Training Centre in Harbin and has been on the national team since 2016.
Zhao, 19, is from the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and has been in the national skeleton team since 2018. She is regarded as a medal prospect for China in the Winter Olympics.
Photo: Gao Tingyu (left) and Zhao Dan. (Photo: CFP/Global Times)