Rider Peder Fredricson and sailor Josefin Olsson will be Sweden's flag bearers at the OS opening ceremony in Paris.
I'm incredibly proud and honored. The OS has always been a huge inspiration for me, says Fredricson.
It's two experienced and successful athletes who will lead Sweden into the OS in Paris.
This time on the Seine River in central Paris, in what is described in advance as the most spectacular OS opening ceremony of all time.
Fredricson is competing in his fifth OS and led Sweden to gold in the team event in Tokyo 2021. He also has individual silver from both Tokyo and Rio 2016.
"Pretty shocked"
Olsson is competing in her fourth OS and took silver in Tokyo 2021.
I was pretty shocked and very surprised. I had speculated a bit about who might become flag bearers and didn't think of myself there. It's a great honor, says Olsson, who competes in Ilca6 (formerly laser radial).
Even Fredricson says he was surprised when the question came from the Swedish team leader Peter Reinebo.
I thought if you had done something stupid, you would be reprimanded for it, he jokes.
The opening ceremony in Paris has received a lot of attention.
First and foremost because it's the first opening ceremony that doesn't take place in an arena. It will instead take place on the Seine River, where thousands of Olympians will travel six kilometers by boat.
The organizers have claimed that the opening ceremony will be the largest ever, and that around 300,000 spectators will be able to follow the opening ceremony live.
Gigantic security
There have also been some question marks around security during the opening ceremony. But after all, it will be held on the Seine, and around 45,000 police will be present.
Peder Fredricson still feels pretty safe.
It's not entirely safe in the world right now, but the security measures are hopefully stable, he says.
Reinebo is also comfortable with the organizers' security work.
We've had a number of security reviews, the latest the other day. I must say I'm very impressed by what they describe and what they do. We're very safe, the security effort is gigantic, he says.
There will be a smaller Swedish participation at the opening ceremony.
It will be a pretty small team since many are competing on Saturday and Sunday, I can't say exactly how many it will be, says Reinebo.
Many stars will be flag bearers, and perhaps the most spectacular name is American basketball star Lebron James.
Really cool. I'll try to get as close to him as possible, says Fredricson.
The opening ceremony starts at 19.30 on Friday.
2014 (Sochi): Anders Södergren, cross-country skiing.
2016 (Rio de Janeiro): Therese Alshammar, swimming.
2018 (Pyeongchang): Niklas Edin, curling.
2021 (Tokyo): Max Salminen, sailing, and Sara Algotsson Ostholt, equestrian.
2022 (Beijing): Emma Nordin, ice hockey, and Oliwer Magnusson, freestyle skiing.
