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Can A Pro Athlete Carry The Flag?


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This from The Manila Times...

Pacquiao to carry Philippine flag at Olympics

Boxing icon Manny “PacMan” Pacquiao has been chosen to carry the Philippine flag at the opening parade of next month’s Beijing Olympics, despite being a professional athlete and unable to fight in the 2008 Games.

President Gloria Arroyo announced on Friday that she was designating the fighter, who won a fourth world title in a fourth weight class last month, as “special envoy to the Beijing Olympics,” Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita told reporters Friday.

Pacquiao’s designation as flag-bearer seemed to have been well received by Mark Joseph, the president of the Philippine Amateur Swimming Association.

Earlier, the association recommended to the Philippine Olympic Committee that swimmer Miguel Molina be made to carry the Philippine flag in Beijing. Its suggestion was accepted.

I don't think President Arroyo knows what she's doing. Isn't accreditation up to BOCOG and the IOC?

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except boxers sicne boxers turns pro after the Olympics. has any boxer reinstated from pro to amateur status? i don't think this has happend before. he's not even competing which is i'll be greatly insulted if i was competing. a competitor should carry the flag not the biggest athlete in your country who's not even competing at the games.

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except boxers sicne boxers turns pro after the Olympics. has any boxer reinstated from pro to amateur status? i don't think this has happend before. he's not even competing which is i'll be greatly insulted if i was competing. a competitor should carry the flag not the biggest athlete in your country who's not even competing at the games.

I agree.

But then, in the past, "Chef de Mission" have sometimes carried the flag for their team not even an athlete...

My understanding is that it is the NOC that has the final word on the flag bearer selection.

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Maybe I'm totally wrong -- but I think I've read somewhere that a retired or winter athlete once carried a nation's flag in a summer opening ceremony. Or maybe it's the other way round, and it was a summer athlete at the Winter Games. At least this story doesn't appear completely new to me.

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well Michel Platini did lit the torch at the Albertville Games so i think that was somewhat insulting for the French Winter Athletes. Jean Claude Killy should've been given that honor but he was part of the Albertville OCOG.

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Yet another foolish our-country's-****-but-pacquaio-will-save-the-day-anyway-never-mind-about-national-crises show. Rather meaningless and superficial.

They should have just followed the same reason for picking the flagbearer in Athens: let the athlete who's the last chance of getting a medal among the team during the games carry the flag.

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except boxers sicne boxers turns pro after the Olympics. has any boxer reinstated from pro to amateur status? i don't think this has happend before. he's not even competing which is i'll be greatly insulted if i was competing. a competitor should carry the flag not the biggest athlete in your country who's not even competing at the games.

Boxers at the olympics are not 'pro' as they do not win monney directly from their fighting... But they are professional sportsmen as they are being paid to train.... (by a sponsor, by a federation, by their state....)

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except boxers sicne boxers turns pro after the Olympics. has any boxer reinstated from pro to amateur status? i don't think this has happend before. he's not even competing which is i'll be greatly insulted if i was competing. a competitor should carry the flag not the biggest athlete in your country who's not even competing at the games.

I totally agree with you. It was/is insulting to those other athletes who've worked hard w/o the monetary gains that Pacquio has made. Not to take anything away from him, but the other athletes who probably won't get a medal or even get into thefinals, should've have at least have had the HONOR. This is one move I would lecture GMA on if I could. She's too blinded by "Pacquio.'

Now, why wasn't he big enough to decline the honor and say that it really 'belonged' to the originally chosen athlete (Molina)?

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Evander Holyfield carried the torch in Atlanta.

The torch-bearing honors are usually given to exemplary athletes of the area, of the sport. It has NOTHING to do with the question of this thread wherein a 'pro' athlete with NO Olympic connections whatsover displaces an already named amateur athlete by edict of the president of that country. It really smacks of TOTAL disrespect and (un)fairness for the status of amateur athletes.

ALright, so Mr. Pacquiao will have 10 seconds of int'l fame as a flag-bearer. That's it; one of only 200 flag-bearers, 98% of whom are bonafide Olympic athletes unlike him.

Wingspread, I don't know this Velasco fellow.

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Evander Holyfield carried the torch in Atlanta.

Evander also competed and won a bronze medal (in a controversial bout) at the 1984 LA Games. Being a well known, well liked, local Olympian, he got the nod to enter the stadium flame in hand.

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