Carry the national flag on the opening ceremony of an Olympic Game it is a pride for any athlete. In Tokyo 2020, Rosario Cecilia Carranza will have that privilege since it was chosen by the Argentine Olympic Committee with his partner Santiago Lange to lead the delegation. The sailors won the gold medal in Rio de Janeiro 2016 and in Japan they will go for the defense of the title.
It will be the first time in history that the flag is carried together by a man and a woman. This initiative was promoted by the International Olympic Committee as part of its decisions to guarantee gender equality in the event.
Another strong candidate to carry the flag was the judoka and also an Olympic champion Paula Pareto but abstained to participate in the ceremony as it competes the day after the inauguration.
This will be the fourth time that an athlete from Rosario carries the flag at the opening ceremony. The previous ones were the marathoner Juan Carlos Zabala in Berlin 1936, the rower Hugo Aberastegui in Montreal 1976 and Luciana Aymar in London 2012.
The decathlete Enrique Thompson in Paris 1924, where the country presented its first delegation, was the pioneer and from then on, other great athletes had that privilege.
The complete list of Argentine flag bearers
Paris 1924: Henry Thompson, athletics
Amsterdam 1928: Héctor Méndez, boxing
Los Angeles 1932: Alberto Zorrilla, swimming
Berlin 1936: Juan Carlos Zabala, athletics
London 1948: Alfredo Yantorno, swimming
Helsinki 1952: Delfo Cabrera, athletics
Melbourne 1956: Isabel Avellán, athletics
Rome 1960: Cristina Hardekopf, ornamental jumps (did not compete)
Tokyo 1964: Jeannette Campbell, swimming
Mexico 1968: Carlos Moratorio. horse riding
Munich 1972: Carlos D`Elia, horse riding
Montreal 1976: Hugo Aberastegui, oar
Los Angeles 1984: Ricardo Ibarra, rowing
Seoul 1988: Gabriela Sabatini, tennis
Barcelona 1992: Marcelo Garrafo, field hockey
Atlanta 1996: Carolina Mariani, judo
Sidney 2000: Carlos Espínola, sailing
Athens 2004: Carlos Espínola, sailing
Beijing 2008: Emanuel Ginobili, basketball
London 2012: Luciana Aymar, hockey
Rio 2016: Luis Scola, basketball
Tokyo 2020: Cecilia Carranza and Santiago Lange, sailing
