Installation of the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
getty photos
PARIS – It’s officially Olympic season in golf, but before any shots can be fired at Le Golf National, there are plenty of official celebrations to attend. Like the Opening Ceremony, scheduled for Friday night in Paris.
It is not clear how many golfers will walk – or float, rather – during the event held on the Seine River, which runs through Paris. But we know for sure that two golfers will hold the highest honor of flag bearers in their countries.
Fabrizio Zanotti, the player ranked 342 in the world, will serve as the male flag bearer for Paraguay, and he may do a better job than all the other French athletes … because he was carrying the Paraguayan flag. At the last Olympic Games, in Tokyo.
Joining him from the tee is Moroccan golfer Ines Laklalech, ranked 298th in the world. Laklalech is one of the most underrated athletes on the field, but he is an Olympian nonetheless and one of the 42 athletes competing from Morocco. Considering that the women’s golf tournament doesn’t start until the men’s tournament is over, Laklalech arrived early in Paris, already sporting the Moroccan red and forest green colors from the Olympic Village.
Avid golf fans will remember that Gaby Lopez carried the flag for Mexico at the 2020 Olympics, which were held in Tokyo in the summer of 2021. and all the athletes wore masks. Thanks this time, we will see more of their smiles as they represent their countries. (Team USA’s flag bearers are basketball player LeBron James and tennis star Coco Gauff.)
It is possible that other golfers will participate in the event, not in a flag-carrying role. Unfortunately for women’s golf competitors, the Opening Ceremony takes place 12 full days before their tournament begins. The men’s competition begins on Thursday, Aug. 1.
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