Gauff to join James as USA flagbearers at Olympic Opening Ceremony

Tennis star Coco Gauff will join basketball icon LeBron James as a flagbearer for the USA at Friday's Opening Ceremony for the 2024 Paris Summer Olympics.

Gauff, the reigning U.S. Open champion, is set to make her Olympic debut at the Paris Games and will be the first tennis athlete to carry the U.S. flag. She and James were chosen by their fellow athletes.

"I mean, for me, the Olympics is a top priority. I would say equal to the Grand Slams. I wouldn't put it above or below, just because I've never played before. This is my first time," Gauff said earlier this year. "Obviously, I always want to do well, try to get a medal."

Gauff and James, the 39-year-old leading scorer in NBA history, both compete in sports that are outside the traditional Olympic world and enjoy attention year-round, not just every four years.

Gauff made the American team for the Tokyo Games three years ago as a teenager, but had to sit out that edition after testing positive for COVID-19 right before she was due to fly to Japan.

Now Gauff, who is based in Florida, is a Grand Slam title winner in both singles and doubles. She claimed her first major championship in New York in September 2023, defeating Aryna Sabalenka in the U.S. Open women's singles final, and then added her first Grand Slam doubles trophy at the French Open in June alongside Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic.

The same clay courts at Roland Garros used for the French Open will serve as the home of the tennis event at the Paris Olympics, beginning on Saturday.

Gauff is seeded No. 2 in singles, matching her current WTA ranking behind No. 1 Iga Swiatek of Poland, and will be among the medal favorites.

She and her regular doubles partner, Jessica Pegula, are seeded No. 1 in women's doubles. And Gauff and the highest-ranked American man, Taylor Fritz, were seeded No. 2 in mixed doubles when those pairings were announced on Wednesday.

"I'm not putting too much pressure on it, because I really want to fully indulge in the experience," Gauff said about her Olympic debut. "Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime, (but) I'll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience."