Emmanouil Karalis will be the flag-bearer for Greece in the closing ceremony of the Olympic Games, it was made public on Saturday.
Karalis won a bronze medal for Greece last Monday in the pole vault competition that took place in Paris as part of the athletics events of the 2024 Summer Olympics.
The closing ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympics will be held on Sunday evening, wrapping up more than two weeks of athletic action that excited the world.
Greece, as always, enters the stadium first, in a gesture of honour for the nation that gave birth to the Olympic ideals almost three millenia ago.
Gold Medalist Tentoglou Greece’s Flag-Bearer at LA Olympics?
Greece’s only gold medalist in this year’s Olympics Miltiadis Tentoglou recently expressed his hope to be Greece’s flag-bearer at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
The Hellenic Olympic Committee (EOE) offered Tentoglou the chance to be the flag bearer of Greece at the closing ceremony of the Paris Olympics on Sunday. However, the Greek long jump champion respectfully declined.
It was this refusal that led Emmanouil Karalis to become the nation’s flag bearer on Sunday evening in Paris.
”I want to make my country proud by standing at the top of the podium. I hope to be Greece’s flag bearer at the Los Angeles Olympics, if possible,” the 26-year-old Tentoglou said at a sponsorship event that was held a few days ago.
Tentoglou has managed to become one of the world’s most successful long jump athletes, as only American Lewis, who won the title four times from 1984 to 1996, had retained the title for so long. ”This is for my country. Greece is the country that invented the Olympics, so I am happy to do it for them,” he told reporters recently.
Karalis brought a bronze for Greece in Paris Olympics
Emmanouil Karalis became an Olympic medalist for Greece last Monday. The Greek champion finished third in the pole vault event with a 5.90-meter jump that secured him the bronze Olympic medal.
Karalis impressed the Stade de France as well as millions of spectators across the world with his great performance. Manolo, as he is colloquially known by friends and the Greek public, has shown great determination over the last few years.
The 24-year-old athlete was raised in Athens. However, he has roots in Pyrgos, Elis and is the proud son of a Greek father and a mother with roots in the nation of Uganda. His latest achievement was another bronze medal in March at the World Athletics Indoor Championships. The prestigious event was held in Glasgow, Scotland in the UK.
Karalis won his first medal in a significant adult competition at the age of 19 at the European Championships of under 23, where he won a silver. The event took place in 2019 in Gävle, Sweden.
