Latvian beach volleyball star Tina Graudina was named among her country’s two flag bearers for the opening ceremony at the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympic Games. She will have the honour of carrying the Latvian national flag along with 3x3 basketball player Nauris Miezis, a Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medallist. The opening ceremony to be held in the heart of the city along its main artery, the Seine river, is set to take place on Friday, July 26, starting at 19:30 local time (17:30 UTC).

“I am very excited and grateful for the opportunity to carry the Latvian flag at the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games. I really can't wait for the moment when Nastya and I, and the other athletes of the delegation will be able to represent Latvia at the Olympic Games, which I hope will be a real celebration of friendship, sports and excellence!” the 1.84m-tall blocker said at Monday’s Team Latvia presentation event, as quoted by Latvian Olympic Committee’s olimpiade.lv.

26-year-old Tina Graudina and her partner Anastasija Samoilova are Latvia’s most distinguished women’s beach volleyball pair. Three years ago they reached the semifinals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics and finished in fourth place. They have so far collected two gold, three silver and three bronze medals on the Volleyball World Beach Pro Tour. They are also two-time European champions from 2019 and 2022.

“Both flag bearers are excellent in their sports, as evidenced by their achievements so far. Tīna Laura Graudina was chosen as the team captain for a sport, in which excellent results and vivid emotions have been provided to fans and supporters for many years,” said Latvian Olympic Committee President Raimonds Lazdins.

“These are special Games, because exactly one hundred years ago, in 1924, also in Paris, the Latvian team competed in the Summer Olympic Games for the first time. Both then and now, its hopes and expectations are high. I will also be very pleased and honoured to be personally with you in Paris for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. I wish you all strength, vigour and, of course, a little bit of luck,” said the President of Latvia Edgars Rinkevics.

Three days after the opening ceremony, Tina & Anastasija will hit the Olympic court at the Eiffel Tower Stadium in Champ-de-Mars Park for their first Pool D match, against Switzerland’s Esmee Bobner & Zoe Verge-Depre, starting at 17:00 (15:00). For its second match, the Latvian pair will take on Paraguay’s Giuliana Poletti & Michelle Valiente on July 31 at 12:00 (10:00), before wrapping up their pool stage campaign with a game against Melissa Humana-Paredes & Brandie Wilkerson on August 3 at 17:00 (15:00).

The 24 participating teams in each gender are split into six single round-robin pools of four for the first competition stage. The six pool winners, the six pool runners-up and the two best ranked third-placed teams will qualify directly to the eighthfinals. The remaining four third-placed teams will move on to a sixteenthfinal round, the so called “lucky loser” playoffs. From then on, it will be single-elimination playoffs that also go through the quarterfinals and the semifinals, and eventually lead to the medal matches at the event’s climax. The beach volleyball battles for Olympic honours will last from July 27 to August 10.

Olympic Games Paris 2024 Beach Volleyball: full schedule

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