LeBron James and Coco Gauff Are the U.S. Flag Bearers at the 2024 Olympics

During the opening ceremony of the Olympics, two athletes from each country carry their flag and present their team before offering an introduction to their home country's history and culture.

The 2024 Paris Olympics will feature two recognizable faces bearing the U.S. flag, but how do they decide who will have the honor? It's actually a really simple process.

Every four years when the Olympics begin, the flag bearers are chosen by their fellow athletes. Every athlete who's attending the ceremony votes for who they believe should carry the U.S. flag during the opening ceremony, giving them a say in the best representatives for their country.

This year, basketball player LeBron James and tennis player Coco Gauff were nominated by their fellow competitors to carry the flag.

LeBron is best known for his role on the Los Angeles Lakers basketball team, though this will be his fourth Olympic games that he's attended. The famed player first participated in the international sports competition in 2004 at the Athens Olympics, returning to compete in the 2008 Bejing olympics and the 2012 London games.

Coco Gauff, who is competing for the U.S. women's tennis team, will also be bearing the U.S. flag at the opening ceremony.

This will be Coco's first Olympics, though she previously qualified for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games before contracting COVID and being forced to drop from the competition. When she was initially selected to be part of the 2020 U.S. women's tennis team, she was the second-youngest woman ever to be selected for the team at just 17 — one year older than Jennifer Capriati was when she competed at the 1992 Olympics.

Other recognizable flag bearers include Simone Biles, Michael Phelps, and Sue Bird, among others. There's no prerequisite to carry the flag, meaning every athlete is eligible as a possible candidate when arriving at the games, regardless of how many Olympics they've competed in.