The British Olympic Association is delighted to announce that defending Olympic champion Andy Murray has been selected as the Team GB Flagbearer for Friday’s Opening Ceremony of the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
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“There are a great number of outstanding athletes on this team, from Nicola Adams who I made flagbearer in Baku, to Sir Bradley Wiggins, unquestionably one of our greatest ever Olympians”.
Murray, 29, spoke of his pride at being asked to lead out Team GB before an estimated global audience of three billion tomorrow.
He loves representing the country, he loves team competition, and I know that when he was at the Olympics in London – particularly that whole sense of being part of a much bigger thing than just the tennis – it was a massive, massive thing for him. “They are two guys who are great players and capable of winning events like this”, Murray told EPSN after his first practice session on Tuesday at the Olympic Tennis Centre in Rio.
“I remember when I was in Beijing, although I didn’t perform well there, it was just nice being surrounded by the best athletes in your country, seeing them coming back with their medals and having done well feels a lot more like a team environment”.
But on Wednesday evening, during a team ceremony held at British House in Rio, his first experience of carrying the flag ended in haphazard fashion as he almost planted the flag smack bang into the head of Princess Anne.
He said: “I was just getting into bed at about 11.15 – I was in my trousers – and our team leader came and said, “the chef de mission needs to speak to you”.
Unlike the previous Olympics, Rio will not offer ranking points.
Half of the men’s top 10 will be absent from Rio, with Tomas Berdych and Milos Raonic withdrawing because of fears over the Zika virus and Dominic Thiem also choosing to skip the event, while there are also question marks over Rafael Nadal’s fitness following a wrist injury.
Djokovic’s maiden French Open title elevated the Serb, a victor of 12 grand slams, to the pantheon of tennis greats but a lacklustre third-round exit at Wimbledon has offered hope to Murray and his other rivals that his dominance may be ebbing.
The three-time Grand Slam victor said he would try to carry the flag with one hand in an attempt to copy Sir Steve Redgrave, Sir Matthew Pinsent and Sir Chris Hoy at previous opening ceremonies.
That said, Djokovic must play Juan Martin Del Potro in his first round tie, a rematch of their classic bronze medal game four years ago at the All England Club.
Murray also has high hopes of success in the doubles with brother Jamie and the second seeds will play Brazilians Thomaz Bellucci and Andre Sa in the opening round.
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The Murray brothers won all three Davis Cup doubles rubber past year.
