Who is the U.S. flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony?
By David Rouben
The biggest thing Americans can look forward to during the last day of the Olympics is the Closing Ceremony. Which athlete was chosen to carry the flag?
The 2018 Winter Olympics are beginning to wind down. For Americans, there aren’t many sporting events to look forward to after staying up late into the night to watch their country win gold in men’s curling. But the Closing Ceremony remains a spectacle, and one that everyone should be tuning into.
The Closing Ceremony doesn’t quite have the grandeur of the Opening Ceremony, but it’s still a momentous occasion. All the countries march out again, while the Olympic Committee hands off the flag to the hosts of the next Winter Games, in this case Beijing.
For an athlete, being their country’s designated flag bearer at the Closing Ceremony is a remarkable achievement. It’s an acknowledgement of the hard work that they put into the Games, and a reflection of everything they accomplished. That’s why the flag bearer for the U.S. this year will be cross-country skiier Jessie Diggins.
It was undoubtedly a tough call for the U.S. Olympic Committee. They could’ve gone with Chloe Kim, Shaun White, Jocelyne Lamoureux, Chris Mazdzer or John Shuster and it would’ve been just as deserving. But what Diggins and teammate Kikkan Randall accomplished was historic. They won USA’s first ever gold in cross-country skiing, as well as the first medal in the sport since 1976.
Diggins admitted she thought the honor was a mistake during a morning show interview. Perhaps that’s because there was a bit of controversy surrounding the choice for the Opening Ceremony’s flag bearer, when Erin Hamlin won it in a coin toss over Shani Davis. However, you would be hard-pressed to say they didn’t get it right this time around.
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Hamlin finished her Olympic career without a medal in Pyeongchang, but Diggins will undoubtedly make her country proud when she walks through the Olympic Stadium holding the American flag above her head.