Dennis Schroder, a Brooklyn Nets player, will be the male flagbearer for Team Germany in the Paris 2024 Summer Olympics opening ceremony on Friday.
According to the New York Post, the 30-year-old basketball star will be the first Black person to carry the German flag at the Olympic Games’ opening ceremony. Schroder will be the first Black German flagbearer in the Olympics, which he considers a great honor.
Schroder, born to a Gambian mother, took to Instagram to celebrate the milestone. “DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND DEUTSCHLAND. We made it through. To all the people who voted for me, thank you very much you’re the best ever. Being able to share this feeling with you is unbelievable,” he wrote in German alongside a photo of him holding the German flag.
“The first dark-skinned carrier for Germany. INSANE. We did this together and made an important statement! Will carry the FLAG proudly. Thanks to all my family without you this would never have been possible! F.O.E. THANK YOU FROM THE BOTTOM OF MY HEART.”
Schroder emerged victorious after fans and German Olympic athletes voted to select their flagbearers. The German Olympic Sports Confederation is set to designate the 30-year-old as the male flagbearer this week.
Schroder and the German national basketball team will be ready to go all out at the Olympics after leading the squad to their first FIBA World Cup victory in 2023. They also won the competition unbeaten.
His decision comes after another basketball player, LeBron James, was chosen as Team USA’s male flagbearer for Friday’s opening ceremony.
With his selection, the Los Angeles Lakers great becomes the first men’s basketball player to carry his native nation’s flag at the opening ceremony. Steph Curry nominated the 39-year-old NBA’s all-time leading scorer to represent the 2024 USA Basketball Men’s National Team.
The opening ceremony this year will be held outside of an arena for the first time. The competitors will board boats that will take them down the River Seine and reach the Eiffel Tower.