Weightlifter Roilya Ranaivosoa and boxer Richarno Colin will be Mauritius’ flag bearers at the Tokyo Olympics, which will be held from July 23 to August 8. They were nominated by their peers.
Roilya Ranaivosoa will also wear the captain’s cap for the women’s team and badminton player Julien Paul has been named captain of the men’s team.
For Philippe Hao Thyn Voon Ha Shun, President of COM, “Flag bearers are important in an Olympic team. They are the symbols of delegation, those who carry the ambitions and hopes of an entire nation. They need to have a certain charisma to pull the team up. I am happy to be able to count on Roilya and Richarno for Tokyo. Their professionalism, their presence and their positivity will be invaluable assets for all their team.
Both nominated athletes felt “very proud” to be entrusted with such a mission and intend to do their best to honor the trust placed in them. “It’s not every day that you get the chance to have such an experience. I intend to make the most of every minute of the Games. I will do my best to encourage my teammates. The main objective is to make the national flag shine,” says Richarno Colin.
For her part, Roilya Ranaivosoa believes that her role as standard bearer will be to instil a real team spirit within the delegation during the Olympics. “The goal will be for each athlete takes the results of their mates as their own. We must be united, both supporters and competitors. With real support behind, some of us may be able to surprise,” she says.
The flag bearers will wear the national colors during the parades of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games, but we never kow if the Olympic calendar will be turned upside down in the meantime. Hedley Han, head of mission of the Mauritian delegation, believes that these Games will be even more special than usual given the circumstances, and that the athletes will have to be exemplary throughout the competition: “The rules will be extremely strict, and we cannot afford to deviate from it. The flag bearers must remain patient and cooperative, while acting as a relay between the technical staff and the rest of the athletes for better communication between all”.
