Bruno selected to be Brazil’s flag bearer in Tokyo

Another volleyball player will have the honour of carrying his country’s flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Olympics after Brazilian national team captain Bruno Rezende was selected to be one of his nation’s flag bearers next week.

The 35-year-old setter will share the duty with judo athlete Ketleyn Quadros, the first Brazilian woman to win an Olympic medal in an individual sport with her bronze in Beijing 2008.

Bruno is a three-time Olympic medallist, having captained Brazil to win gold at the Rio 2016 Games after being part of the rosters that took silver at both London 2012 and Beijing 2008. He’ll become the first volleyball player to have the honour in Brazil – beach volleyball star Sandra Pires played the same role at the Sydney 2000 Games.

“I see myself as a humble representative of everything volleyball means for our entire country,” he said. “I try to replicate the values of dedication, commitment and bravery I learned from the previous generations and to be the first volleyball player to be a flag bearer is a tremendous honour. I hope everyone who loves volleyball in Brazil feels represented by me. As a sport, we have been winning Olympic medals since Los Angeles 1984 and I can think of several former players who could have been selected for this role before I did because of all they represented.”

The setter, who recently led Brazil to victory at the 2021 FIVB Volleyball Nations League is the sixth volleyball player selected for the prestigious role ahead of the Tokyo Olympics joining Dominican Republic’s captain Prisilla Rivera, Tunisia’s captain Ben Cheikh, Kenya's outside hitter Mercy Moim, Korea's outside hitter Kim Yeon Koung and opposite Maxim Mikahylov, who will carry the ROC flag. Chile’s Marco Grimalt is the only beach volleyball player confirmed as a flag bearer so far.

The Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo Games will take place on July 23, one day before Brazil’s debut at the Olympics, against Tunisia.