Olympic Flag-Bearer Fever Heats Up With Sharapova News

By Erik Gudris

Photo Credit: Sharapova Facebook

Maria Sharapova announced as Russian flagbearer for 2012 London Olympics

(June 13, 2012) -- After some conflicting reports over the last few days, Maria Sharapova took to Facebook to set the record straight about whether or not she would be carrying the Russian flag as part of the opening ceremonies at the upcoming Summer Games in London.

Sharapova posted on her Facebook page, "Ahh finally I can share some exciting news with you! After the third round of the French Open, I woke up to a pretty memorable message. The Russian Olympic committee chose me to be the flag bearer at this year’s Olympic opening ceremony. I am so honored, and especially excited as it will be my first Olympics in my career. I have had to keep this hush hush for two weeks and keeping secrets is not my best quality!"

This post from the new French Open winner appears to confirm Russian Tennis Federation coach Shamil Tarpishchev's recent comments that Sharapova was indeed selected to be the flag bearer though according to the AP yesterday, Russia's sports minister Vitaly Mutko could only confirm that Sharapova was on the short list of possible contenders for the country's flag bearer and that a final decision would be reached later in July.

If Sharapova is indeed Russia's choice, and it looks likely, then it would mark the first time that a woman will carry the Russian flag in the opening ceremonies at the Olympics.

Tarpishchev also said, "As far as I know Roger Federer will be Switzerland's flag-bearer and Rafael Nadal will be Spain's. It's very pleasant that the popularity of tennis is growing around the world."

Yes it does sound very pleasant, but Tarpischev was incorrect as at the moment neither Federer nor Nadal are officially the flag bearers for their respective countries Switzerland and Spain though each man is in the running. Novak Djokovic was recently officially announced by Serbia to be their flag bearer, an obvious choice considering his No. 1 ranking and that Djokovic is the most famous Serbian athlete the country has ever had.

With Olympic flag bearer fever growing, could we see more tennis players selected for the honor? Just yesterday on Twitter, a rumor was floated that Victoria Azarenka was very likely the choice of Belarus to be their flag bearer. As for the United States, the tradition they have of letting the athletes of Team USA decide who will receive the honor certainly leaves the door open for Serena Williams or perhaps Andy Roddick to lead the team, but it's more likely a less famous athlete whose trained in relative obscurity simply for the love of their sport will earn the nod.

Finally, let's not forget that the Olympic Tennis event starts the day after the Opening Ceremonies, a factor that might force some players scheduled for first round action on July 28th to have to skip the ceremonies altogether. Could that possibly force Djokovic and Sharapova, if they are scheduled to play then, to have to forego their flag bearer duties in lieu of chasing after Olympic gold? Possibly not, but as any tournament will do before the start of the event, it's probably best to list those players selected to be flag bearers for the moment as being "scheduled to appear."