Estonia's Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics opening ceremony flag bearers announced
Two veterans of Estonia's Olympic team are to carry the national flag at the Winter Games opening in Milan-Cortina, Italy, on Friday.
Biathlete Johanna Talihärm and speed skater Marten Liiv are performing the task, though at different locations.
Talihärm said: "It is an honor once again to carry the Estonian flag on behalf of the biathletes at the Olympic opening. I remember when I went to my first Olympics in Sochi in 2014, Indrek Tobreluts carried the flag, and it was an incredibly powerful feeling to enter the stadium with the Estonian delegation. The Cortina opening will certainly be a bit different, but it is a historic moment for all of us."
This will be Liiv's second time carrying the flag at the Winter Games' opening ceremony, having already done so in PyeongChang, Korea, in 2018. "Already when I heard that the opening would take place at the San Siro, I had a 'click' moment – that's where I want to go. I'm very happy because I'm a huge football fan. I'm very grateful to the Estonian Olympic Committee for trusting me with this opportunity."
The pair will also be competing. For Talihärm, this will be her fourth Winter Olympics, one more than Liiv.
The Olympic opening ceremony will take place in four different locations: Milan, Cortina, Livigno and Predazzo. Liiv will ceremonially bring the flag onto the stage at the San Siro Stadium, in Milan, home of both that city's major football teams, while Talihärm will be on duty in the Cortina Olympic Village.
The XXV Winter Olympic Games run February 6-22, though mixed doubles curling pair Marie Kaldvee and Harri Lill are already in action tomorrow, Wednesday.
Estonia took one medal at the last Winter Olympics in Beijing, where freestyle skier Kelly Sildaru took bronze, ending a 12-year medal drought. The last golds, three of them, were taken at the 2006 Turin Winter Olympics, by cross-country skiers Kristina Šmigun and Andrus Veerpalu.
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Editor: Andrew Whyte, Siim Boikov
