Tennis star Coco Gauff has been tapped to lead American athletes during the Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics, joining NBA superstar LeBron James.
Gauff and James were selected by their fellow U.S. Olympians to serve as flag bearers for Team USA. Gauff becomes the first U.S. tennis player to be a flag bearer for Team USA.
U.S. Olympic teammate and friend Chris Eubanks delivered the news to Gauff Tuesday morning.
“I was completely shocked, like it never would have crossed my mind,” Gauff said in an exclusive interview on NBC’s “TODAY” show. “I have no words, honestly.”
Gauff said she’s a big fan of James, but has never formally met him. Finally doing so as flag bearers for their country “is a cool circumstance to meet him,” she added.
The 20-year-old Gauff, ranked No. 2 in the world, is making her Olympic debut in Paris after missing the Tokyo Games because she tested positive for COVID-19. She will be joined by a list of Team USA teammates that includes No. 5 Jessica Pegula, Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro in women’s singles, along with Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, Chris Eubanks and Marcos Giron in men’s singles.
Gauff is a favorite to bring home a medal on the clay courts at Roland-Garros, the site of the French Open. Gauff is the U.S. Open champion and reached the semifinals at the year’s first two Grand Slams, the Australian and French Opens. She was a finalist on the Roland-Garros clay in 2022 and will be a medal contender in doubles, too.
How to watch tennis at the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics
The action begins on July 27 and runs through Aug. 4.
All first-round matches for men’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s singles and women’s doubles commence on July 27. Mixed doubles begins on July 28.
The women’s singles final and men’s doubles final are on Aug. 3, while the women’s doubles final and men’s singles final are on Aug. 4.
The mixed doubles gold medal match is Aug. 2.
The majority of tennis matches can be streamed on Peacock, NBCOlympics.com and the NBC Sports app, which is available on Google’s Google Play Store and Apple’s App Store.
