The Paris 2024 Olympic Games are just around the corner, with the handball competitions throwing off on Thursday, 25 July, with six matches scheduled in the women’s tournament, while the Opening Ceremony, due to take place on the Seine River, scheduled one day later, on 26 July.

With the final preparations in place, the National Olympic Committees have started to announce their flagbearers. According to the official website of the Olympic Games, olympics.com, “the flagbearer for a national delegation is, in some ways, akin to team captain, but it is also much more than that. By carrying their national flag during the Parade of Nations, the flagbearer becomes an enduring symbol of their national values and indeed of Olympic ideals, not to mention an inspiration for future generations.”

Therefore, being selected from hundreds of athletes in some cases is a huge honour, but also a responsibility, being a true ambassador of the sport and of the country when holding the flag during the Parade of Athletes at the Opening Ceremony.

For Paris 2024, handball will be well-represented, with four athletes being already nominated to hold their flag and lead their country at the Parade of Athletes at the Opening Ceremony. For the first time in the history of the Olympic Summer Games, the Opening Ceremony will not take place in a stadium. Paris 2024 is breaking new ground by bringing sports into the city and the same will be true of the Opening Ceremony, set to be held in the heart of the city along its main artery: the Seine.

And Niklas Landin Jacobsen, the IHF Male World Player of the Year in 2019 and 2021, and the captain of Denmark men’s national team, will be one of the flagbearers which will have the chance to represent his country in this amazing setting.

This will be the fourth edition of the Olympics for Landin, who has already taken part at London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, having already won the gold medal at Rio 2016 and the silver five years later, at Tokyo 2020.

“I was really touched when I was asked if I wanted to be the flagbearer for these Olympics. It's huge for me and I can't think of any greater honour or recognition for what I've achieved as an athlete. That I, as the first handball player, am allowed to lead the Danish Olympic team, that is very special, and it makes me incredibly proud. I don't think it can be compared to any other experience in the world of sports, and I find it difficult to imagine that it can be topped, says Niklas Landin.

Landin will share the honour together with sailor Anne-Marie Rindom, with one day later having to enter the goalposts, as Denmark start their campaign with a fantastic match against France, in a rematch of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

The Netherlands also announced their two flagbearers and it will be Lois Abbingh who will carry the flag alongside Worthy de Jong, a 3x3 basketball player. Abbingh, a powerhouse in the left back position, who helped the Dutch side clinch their first title at the IHF Women’s World Championship in 2019, will feature for the third time at the Olympic Games, after Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

''I find it a great honour to be able to carry the flag for the Netherlands during the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games. I think it means a lot to handball in the Netherlands. And personally I think it's great that I can be at the forefront of the battle at my third Olympic Games. I can't wait to represent TeamNL,” said Abbingh.

Goalkeeper Blanka Böde-Bíró will also write history for Hungary, as she will be the first handball player to ever carry the national flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Olympic Games.

“Of course, I was very surprised, you don't expect something like that." A lot of things happened in me, I can say that I was on an emotional rollercoaster, I even shed a little tears. I don't even know if the word honor is right, it's certainly a huge thing, as is being able to be there at the Olympics. For now, I'm not thinking about what it will be like to carry the Hungarian flag at the opening, maybe, I'll only really believe it when we're there,” said Hungary’s goalkeeper

Böde-Bíró, who will play in her second edition of the Olympic Games, after Tokyo 2020, will be joined by judoka Krisztián Tóth.

Last, but not least, the fourth handball player to be a flagbearer at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will be Angola’s right back, Azenaide Carlos.

The 34-year-old right back will play in her fifth edition of the Olympic Games, after Beijing 2008, London 2012, Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020.

Photo credit: Danish Handball Association; Dutch Olympic Committee