French Open winner Maria Sharapova has been announced as Russia’s first ever female flag bearer at the Olympics on Tuesday.
The former world number one will lead the Russian delegate at the London Olympics which are slated for later this month. “Sharapova will carry our flag,” president of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Alexander Zhukov was quoted as saying by a news agency.
“She was the most worthy candidate among all our athletes. In June she claimed her fourth grand slam title (French Open),” he added.
This will be her first ever appearance at Olympics after missing the previous two editions in Athens and Beijing.