When Coco Gauff was chosen as Team USA’s female flagbearer for the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony, no one was more surprised than her.
“There has never been a tennis player before and I just didn’t think I would be that player,” the 20-year-old admitted during a press conference in Paris.
Writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, Gauff shared: “I just want to say thank you to my fellow team usa [sic] Olympians/athletes for voting and choosing me for this incredible honor to be the flag bearer for the opening ceremony.”
Days after basketball legend LeBron James was given the title of the U.S. male flagbearer, the tennis star was surprised with the news by her teammate, Chris Eubanks during Team USA’s Welcome Experience.
“I wanted to cry when I found out,” Gauff admitted, “but my whole team was there so I went in a corner and did it.”
The outpouring of emotion is nothing new for the young athlete and something she calls her shock response. “If you couldn’t tell from the US Open,” she admitted, referencing her teary-eyed reaction to winning her first Grand Slam last year.
The U.S. flag bearers are chosen by Team USA athletes so the decision to nominate Gauff was an easy one, Eubanks said.
Despite the enormous pressure of growing up in the sport, Eubanks shared that he is proud of how she’s maintaining her innocence. “She’s still just a kid. She loves going to the movies, she loves anime, she loves just being a normal 20-year-old,” he said.
It is especially meaningful knowing that three years earlier a then 17-year-old Gauff had to pull out of the Tokyo Olympics after testing positive with COVID-19 right before she was due to go.
“It was very disappointing. I felt very sad,” Gauff said. “Obviously I wanted to compete in Tokyo, but you know, it makes this opportunity in this moment a lot sweeter going through that.”
USTA lead national coach, Kathy Rinaldi joked that Gauff’s well-publicized nomination has benefited the team as well: “It’s upped our pin game. Just hang around Coco — we get all the good pins now,” she said.
With the Olympic tradition of pin trading in full effect in the Athlete Village, Gauff said her teammates are hoping to add a James pin to their collections.
Despite having yet to meet James, “My team is really nagging me about getting pins from him, so I will try to ask him. But I don’t know. I am kind of scared,” she admitted.
And with this also being the first time an Opening Ceremony will be held outside the main stadium — with delegations riding on boats along the River Seine — Gauff is also scared of something else: dropping the flag.
“And I hope it’s not too hot. Those are the only two things I’ve been thinking about the most,” she laughed.
