Reigning Olympic and Wimbledon champion Andy Murray will be the flagbearer for Britain at the opening ceremony for the Rio Games, it was confirmed yesterday.
Murray, who triumphed at Wimbledon for the second time last month and won gold in London four years ago, is the first tennis player to lead Britain into an opening ceremony. “To represent your country at the Games is an unbelievable experience, but to lead out Team GB will be an incredible honour, the biggest in sport,” said Murray, 29, the world number two, adding that he was “very proud”.
“This is my third Olympic Games and it is a very special competition for me. I obviously have great memories of London and I am 100% focused on winning here in Rio. The privilege of being the flagbearer is a moment I will remember for the rest of my life and will certainly be one of the highlights of my career.”
The final selection of Murray was made by a panel headed by Team GB Chef de Mission Mark England, after Britain’s athletes also had their say. Decorated track cycling champion Chris Hoy led the British team out on home soil at London 2012.
“The conviction with which Andy spoke to me about the honour of carrying the flag only underlined why he is such an exceptional individual, and absolutely the right choice,” said Mark England.

Radwanska takes long road to Rio
Agnieszka Radwanska’s commitment to the Olympics can’t be faulted after the Polish tennis star clocked up a lightning 14,000km trip to reach Rio. Radwanska had been playing at the Montreal WTA tournament last week but was stranded in the Canadian city when her connecting flight to Miami was cancelled due to a mechanical failure.
She flew to New York but was unable to make it to Florida due to adverse weather conditions, so decided to perform a quick trans-Atlantic dash and back again to preserve her Olympic dream. Polish media reported that Radwanska jetted to Lisbon before flying to Rio.
Radwanska, the world number five and the 2012 Wimbledon runner-up, was not the only player struggling to make it to Brazil in time for tomorrow’s opening ceremony. Russian doubles pair Elena Vesnina and Ekaterina Makarova were still stuck in Montreal on Tuesday. “And our plane from Montreal are still not fixed.We couldn’t event get out of here...No words,” tweeted Vesnina late Tuesday.