Mary Kom, Manpreet Singh to be flagbearers at opening ceremony Bajrang Punia to do the honours at the closing ceremony
Abhinav Bindra was the flag- TOKYO OLYMPICS bearer at the opening cere- mony of the 2016 Games in Press Trust of India Rio de Janeiro. NEW DELHI Boxer M.C. Mary Kom and Gender parity men’s hockey team skipper At its executive board meet- Manpreet Singh will be flag- ing last year, the Internation- bearers for India at the open- al Olympic Committee had ing ceremony of Tokyo made provisions for flag- Olympics, scheduled to get bearers from both genders at underway on July 23 . the opening ceremony. Wrestler Bajrang Punia “The IOC Executive Board will be the flagbearer at the M.C. Mary Kom. * FILE PHOTO Manpreet Singh. * FILE PHOTO also decided that there closing ceremony on August should be — for the first time 8. is my last Olympics. Who honour to be named the flag- ever — at least one female The Indian Olympic Asso- knows I might even get emo- bearer for the opening cere- and one male athlete in ev- ciation (IOA) has communi- tionally overwhelmed,” said mony alongside the incredi- ery one of the 206 teams and cated the decision in this re- Mary Kom. ble Mary Kom," Manpreet the IOC Refugee Olympic gard to the Organising was quoted as saying in a Team participating at the Committee of the Games. ‘Amazing’ Hockey India release. Games of the Olympiad,” “It would be a huge huge “This is amazing, and I am The country’s lone indivi- IOC chief Thomas Bach had moment for me given that it speechless. I think it’s a huge dual Olympic gold-medallist said.