Opening ceremony flag bearers serve as the faces representing their respective countries.

Consequently, countries participating in major international multi-sport events like the Olympics and Asian Games give athletes with outstanding skills or high symbolic value the opportunity to carry their national flags.

The Korean Sport & Olympic Committee designated Shin Yu-bin, the ace of the women's national table tennis team who has achieved excellent results in international competitions and performed many good deeds outside the arena, as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony of the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games yesterday (the 17th).

Additionally, Kim Dong-yong, a rower who has consistently worked hard across numerous international competitions, was named as a co-flag bearer.

Other countries are also successively announcing their opening ceremony flag bearers.


The host country Japan announced on August 12 that it selected female wrestling icon Akari Fujinami and cycling BMX national team member Rim Nakamura as its opening ceremony flag bearers.

Fujinami is the champion of the women's freestyle 53kg event at the 2024 Paris Olympics and is aiming for her second consecutive title following the 2022 Hangzhou Games.

Currently, Fujinami is showcasing overwhelming skill by extending her record-breaking streak to 153 consecutive wins in official matches.

Nakamura is a promising prospect in Japanese cycling who finished 5th at the Paris Olympics.

Japan has entrusted the flag-bearing duties to an athlete performing at the absolute peak right now and another destined to lead the future of Japanese sports.

China announced that it has selected men's national basketball team member Hu Mingxuan and women's boxing championship contender Wu Yu as its opening ceremony flag bearers.

The tall guard Hu Mingxuan is a basketball star who led the men's team to a bronze medal at the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games, and he serves as the captain of the basketball national team for this tournament.

Wu Yu is an iconic figure in Chinese women's boxing who achieved a grand slam by winning consecutive titles at the 2023 World Championships, the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, and the 2024 Paris Olympics.

At this tournament, she will compete in the women's 51kg division and challenge for her second consecutive Asian Games title.

For the Philippines, male weightlifter Albert Ian Delos Santos and female boxer Aira Villegas will take on the role of flag bearers.


Initially, the Philippines was expected to select star female tennis player Alexandra Eala, ranked 18th in the world, as its flag bearer, but the plan fell through after she personally declined.

According to The Manila Times, Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham Tolentino stated, "I spoke with Eala's father regarding the flag bearer selection, and since she needed rest, I said understood."

Eala chose to skip the Women's Tennis Association (WTA) Tour 1000 China Open held during the same period and opted to participate in the Asian Games.

Vietnam, which won three gold medals at the Hangzhou Games, has entrusted its opening ceremony flag bearer duties to women's national volleyball team member Le Thanh Thuy and men's national football team center-back Dinh Quang Kiet.

Malaysia will feature Tan Cheong Min, a two-time World Championships winner and a contender in women's wushu, while Singapore will be represented by female fencer Kiria Tikanah and male canoeist Brandon Ooi.

Kazakhstan has selected Yeldos Smetov, the men's 60kg judo gold medalist at the Paris Olympics, alongside female table tennis player Sarvinoz Mirkadirova.

The opening ceremony where these athletes will march while carrying their national flags will be held on the 19th at Mizuho Stadium in Nagoya, Japan.
(Photo: Yonhap News, Getty Images)