On the 19th, the full list of flag bearers who will enter the opening ceremony of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games carrying their national flags was announced.
In host country Japan, Fujiwani Akari, a women’s wrestler on a 153-match winning streak, will serve as a flag bearer. Competing in the women’s freestyle 57kg category at this event, Fujiwani won gold medals at the 2021 and 2023 World Championships, and also triumphed at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and the 2024 Paris Olympics, solidifying her status as one of wrestling’s greatest of all time (GOAT).
Since September 2017, when she was in middle school, she has remained undefeated in official matches, recording 153 consecutive wins. At this event, she will challenge for gold in the 57kg category.
Fujiwani will carry the flag alongside BMX freestyle cyclist Nakamura Rimu. Nakamura placed fifth in both of the last two Olympics and also won a UCI (International Cycling Union) World Cup this year.
China entrusted its flag to U Wei, a standout in women’s boxing. U Wei won gold medals at the 2023 World Championships, the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.
U Wei’s flag-bearing partner is Hu Mingxuan, captain of the Chinese men’s basketball team. He earned a bronze medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games and a silver at last year’s FIBA (International Basketball Federation) Asia Cup. This marks the first time in 24 years, since the 2002 Busan Games, that a basketball player from basketball-crazy China has been selected as a flag bearer for the Asian Games.
Other countries also chose athletes recognized for their global prowess or public appeal. The Philippines selected Albert Ian Delos Santos, a rising weightlifting star who won this year’s World Junior Championships. He set a junior world record in the clean and jerk in the 71kg category to claim the title.
Kazakhstan’s flag bearer is Yeldos Smetov, an Olympic judo champion. He won silver at the 2016 Rio Games, bronze at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics, and gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, earning medals of different colors in three consecutive Olympics. He was the first Central Asian athlete to win an Olympic judo gold.
India selected Manu Bhaker, a shooter who became the first Indian to win multiple medals at a single Olympics. Bhaker secured bronze in the women’s 10m and mixed 10m air pistol events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Hend Zaza of Syria, who drew attention at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics as a 12-year-old competitor, will also carry the flag. Zaza was noted as Syria’s sole female athlete and the youngest Olympian since 1968. She served as a flag bearer at Tokyo and will do so again.
The opening ceremony will be held at 6 p.m. local time at Nagoya Paroma Mizuhō Stadium. South Korea’s flag bearers are Shin Yu-bin (table tennis) and Kim Dong-yong (rowing).
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