The 2018 Winter Olympic Games are about to get underway in Pyeongchang, South Korea with the Games’ Opening Ceremony set to take place Friday.
The Opening Ceremony is an unbelievable, made-for-TV spectacle that will see athletes from all 93 countries participate in an artistic performance that will highlight cultural features of the host country before the lighting of the Olympic Torch.
Each country chooses one athlete to be its flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony, and Team USA elected to bestow the honor on four-time Olympic luger Erin Hamlin.
Hamlin won a bronze medal at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia, becoming the first U.S. athlete to win an Olympic medal in the singles luge since it was added to the Games in 1964. The 31-year-old also became the first U.S. woman to win the world championships back in 2009.
The Remsen, N.Y., native was thrilled that her teammates voted her to join a list of U.S. flag bearers that includes Michael Phelps, Â Mia Hamm, Simone Biles and Todd Lodwick.
Hamlin will begin her 2018 Olympic quest on Feb. 12 when she will take her first two luge runs.
The 2018 Winter Olympic Games’ Opening Ceremony will take place Friday at 8 p.m. ET.
