Basketball billionaire LeBron James will fly the flag for Team USA in the Paris Olympics opening ceremony this Friday, which for the first time will be held outside of a stadium and is set to be one of the largest in Olympics history.
United States' forward LeBron James is the first male basketball player to be a USA opening ceremony ... [+]
James was selected by his fellow Team USA Olympians to be the male flagbearer for the 2024 opening ceremony, which will take place July 26 at 1:30 p.m. EDT, becoming the first men’s basketball player to lead the U.S. team into the event.
This year’s opening ceremony is set to be the largest in the event’s history, with more than 300,000 spectators expected to cheer as athletes take part in the Parade of Nations.
This is the first time the opening ceremony event is being held not in a stadium, but on boats riding along the 3.7-mile route in the Seine River.
The female flagbearer for the U.S. is expected to be announced Tuesday.
The first Parade of Nations took place in 1908, NBC reports, with only 22 delegates (nations) present. According to tradition, the parade sees athletes marching behind the flag of their country as a way to introduce the games and set the Olympics apart from other sporting competitions. The route begins at the Austerlitz Bridge and will end at the Eiffel Tower at the Trocadero, where the final aspects of the ceremony will take place. James, 39, will compete at his fourth Olympics this year and previously won 2 gold medals as of 2012. He is the oldest Team USA men’s basketball player in history.
James is the first active NBA player to become a billionaire, with an estimated net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes.
In addition to the slew of athletes at the parade, viewers can expect performances from famous entertainers, but organizers have been “tight-lipped,” according to NBC.
From 1936 to 1988, real pigeons were released in the opening ceremony of the Games as protocol to symbolize peace. Since 1992, however, the use of real birds has been replaced with the symbolic appearance of doves.