Olympic swimmer Florent Manaudou, the first man to carry the Olympic torch in Paris, will carry the French tricolour alongside discus thrower Meline Robert-Michon tonight. Manaudou won the Olympic gold medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games, becoming the first French Olympic champion in the 50m freestyle. The 33-year-old will be competing in his fourth Olympic Games, racing in his speciality event on 1st August at the Paris La Defense Arena. He owns two silver medals in the 50m freestyle from the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

The French swimmer spoke about his important responsibilities in Paris beginning tonight; “I think there is a double role for me. The first is to represent the French team, and the second is to perform in the pool. I think that with experience, it’s a little easier. We have people like Jackson Richardson (captain of the French Olympic team and 2004 French flag bearer) who support us in carrying the flag and being at our best during our events.”

Manaudou, a four-time Olympic medallist and a native of Marseille was selected as the captain of the Olympic Torch Relay. After 12 days sailing the Mediterranean from Greece, the Olympic Torch made a grand entrance into Marseille's Old Port on 8th May. Manaudou took the Olympic Torch out of its case, a unique trunk specially designed by Louis Vuitton, before lighting it using a lantern before an audience of 150,000 French fans.

Tonight’s Parade of Nations is a traditional part of the opening ceremony. Since the 1928 Summer Olympics, athletes from Greece have entered first in recognition of their role in the ancient Olympic Games, while the host nation has entered last. Manaudou and Robert-Michon will be the final flag bearers seen in the Parade of Nations as the French athletes carry Olympic competitors on the final boat. Spectators and television viewers may wonder why the flags and the athletes from Australia and then the USA are at the end of the parade immediately preceding France.  Each country will host future Olympic Games in Brisbane in 2032 and Los Angeles in 2028.  

Another Olympic gold medallist, Tom Daley, will make history at the Paris Olympic Games beginning tonight after being selected as one of Great Britain’s flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony. Daley will now also become the first diver to carry the flag for Great Britain, further confirming his place as a British Olympic legend. The four-time Olympic medallist will become the first British diver to compete at five Games when he links up with Noah Williams in the Men's 10m Synchro on 29th July.  "To be asked to be flag bearer is one of the greatest honours in my Olympic diving career. To be able to do it in my fifth Olympic Games and have my family here is an extraordinary thing," said Tom.  "It has been my dream since I was a little kid. I remember in 2008 walking out behind the flag bearer right in the front line because we were the smallest group of people, and to now be one of the two people to lead out the team is such a huge honour. "If my dad was around now, he would be so incredibly proud because he always said that you would know you have cemented your Olympic legacy if you are asked to be a flag bearer at an Olympic Games."

Feng Yu of the People’s Republic of China will be the first artistic swimmer from China to carry her nation's flag in the Opening Ceremonies. This is the first time an athlete from one of the aquatic disciplines has ever carried China’s flag at the Opening Ceremonies. The 24-year-old athlete was part of the Chinese squad that won the Team Technical and Team Free gold medals at the Budapest 2022 World Championships and the Team Technical and Team Acrobatic events at the Fukuoka 2023 Worlds.  This past February in Doha, the Chinese women won the Team Technical, Team Free, and Team Acrobatic events at the 2024 World Championships. She and her teammates are hoping to capture the first-ever Olympic gold medal for China in artistic swimming in Paris.

Siobhan Haughey will carry Hong Kong, China’s flag, along the river Seine tonight. At the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, Haughey won a silver medal in the women’s 100m and 200m freestyle events, becoming the first Hong Kong swimmer to win an Olympic medal and then the first Hong Kong athlete to win two Olympic medals in any sport. In February, she won the women’s 200m freestyle event at the World Aquatics Championships Doha 2024. The 26-year-old swimmer holds the short course world record in the 200m freestyle set at the 2021 World Championships (25m) set in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. 

Mykhailo Romanchuk will carry the Ukrainian flag at tonight’s opening ceremony.  The 27 year old Olympian is married to athletics competitor Maryna Bekh-Romanchuk who is predicted to medal in the long jump.  Mykhailo earned a silver medal in the 1500m freestyle and a bronze in the 800m freestyle at the 2020 Olympic Games. Ten years ago, he was the champion of the 400m freestyle and netted a silver medal in the 800m freestyle at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.

Lisa Pou will be carrying the flag of Monaco, officially the principality of Monaco, a sovereign city-state located on the French Riviera with a population of less than 40,000 residents.  Pou will be competing in the 10 km Olympic swimming marathon event on 8th August.  Her father, Michael, competed at the 1984 and 1988 Olympic Games,  

The Parade of Nations is a traditional part of the opening ceremony. Since the 1928 Summer Olympics, athletes from Greece have entered first in recognition of their role in the ancient Olympic Games, while the host nation has entered last.  A single flagbearer for each nation carried their nation’s flag throughout the history of the Olympic Games. In 2020, each country was given the option of having both a female and a male flag bearer to promote gender equality.

Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Organizing Committee, stated that the ceremony would be the most "spectacular and accessible opening ceremony in Olympic history", with Estanguet saying that it would be free to attend and estimating that it could attract as many as 300,000 spectators. 

Estanguet, a canoeist, was the flag bearer of the French delegation at the 2008 Olympic Games in Beijing and the only French athlete to have won three individual Olympic gold medals in three different Olympic Games. 

The following athletes from World Aquatics disciplines will be carrying their flags in the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Meet All 76 of the Aquatic Sport Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer Honourees

Contributing: Cam Nation