Eddy Alvarez selected as Team USA flag bearer for the Olympic Games 

Alvarez is the first athlete from the sport of baseball to carry the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony

TOKYO – U.S. Olympic Baseball Team infielder Eddy Alvarez was selected as Team USA’s flag-bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020, the United States Olympic and Paralympic Committee announced today. The Opening Ceremony will be held on Friday, July 23 at Olympic Stadium in Tokyo.

Four-time Olympic Champion basketball player Sue Bird was also named a Team USA flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony. Alvarez and Bird were chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA athletes and are the first duo to share the honor of leading the delegation into the Opening Ceremony, which serves as the official start to the Games. Of the 613 athletes who were named to the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team, more than 230 are set to walk in Friday’s Opening Ceremony.

In March 2020 – and prior to the decision to postpone the Tokyo Games due to the COVID pandemic – the International Olympic Committee amended its policy to allow national teams to appoint two flag bearers – one female and one male – in a nod to promote gender parity. The IOC also required that at least one male and one female athlete be included in each of the 206 national delegations that will compete in Tokyo.

Alvarez brings Olympic experience to Tokyo having competed in the Olympic Winter Games Sochi 2014 and won a silver medal as part of the 5,000-meter four-man short track speedskating team. Alvarez currently plays professionally in the Miami Marlins Minor League system and, in addition to being the first Winter Olympic Games medalist to play in Major League Baseball, is the first athlete from the sport of baseball to carry the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony.

“It is an honor and a privilege to be named as one of the flag bearers by my fellow Team USA athletes for the Opening Ceremony,” said Alvarez. “Being a first-generation Cuban-American, my story represents the American Dream. My family has sacrificed so much for me to have the opportunity to wave this flag proudly. I am grateful for my time with U.S. Speedskating and USA Baseball, as well as for all of my teammates, and I am humbled to lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympic Games.”

Determined by the language of the host country and according to IOC protocol and executive board decision, Greece will march first, followed by the Refugee Olympic Team second. As upcoming host countries, the United States and France will be two of the final three countries to walk, with host country Japan closing out the Opening Ceremony.

NBC Olympics will provide unprecedented full-day coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics this Friday, July 23. The day will culminate on NBC in what is always one of the most popular nights of the Olympics with the primetime presentation of the Ceremony at 7:30 p.m. ET/4:30 p.m. PT. The day begins on NBC with the network’s first-ever live morning broadcast of an Opening Ceremony at 6:55 a.m. ET/3:55 a.m. PT, followed by a special edition of TODAY with reaction and athlete interviews, and then NBC’s first-ever Olympic Daytime show on the opening Friday of the Games.

Following the year-long postponement of the Games due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Opening Ceremony will take place Friday, July 23, with competition beginning today and concluding Sunday, Aug. 8.

Team USA fans can follow the 2020 U.S. Olympic Team at TeamUSA.org and across Team USA’s social channels on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. The U.S. Olympic Team microsite will offer Team USA results from the Olympic Games, as well as athlete biographies, sport previews, a history book, competition schedules, and facts and figures about the U.S. delegation.

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