Sending Equality Message At Olympic Opening, Mohamed Sbihi Is The First Muslim To Carry British Flag

JAKARTA - Olympic nations are expected to show their support for gender equality and racial justice on Friday evening with the appointment of their contingent of flag bearers at the opening ceremony.

The International Olympic Committee changed the rules and asked each country to choose two flag bearers in an effort to improve gender equality at the Tokyo Olympics.

Rowing gold medalist Mohamed Sbihi becomes the first Muslim to carry the British flag, along with sailor Hannah Mills.

"It is an honor to be invited to be the flag bearer for Team Great Britain," Sbihi said. "Being in the Olympic movement is an iconic moment, people will remember that image."

Australian athletes Cate Campbell and Patty Mills will be competing in their fourth Olympics. Mills, a basketball player who plays for the NBA's San Antonio Spurs, will be the Indigenous Australian chosen to carry the flag at the opening ceremony.

"It's an identity, it can show who you are to the world," says Mills. "This is one of the few to make you proud of who you are. We've come a really long way for Australian sport and it's special."

The US contingent will be led by 40-year-old basketball player Sue Bird and baseball athlete Eddy Alvarez, who is of mixed Cuban-American blood. Alvarez, who also won a silver medal for speedskating at the 2014 Winter Olympics, has shown his support for Cubans who have taken to the streets to protest amid his country's economic crisis.

"We sympathize with the Cuban people today. We are very proud of them because they took to the streets to protest with stones, garden forks, and brooms," he said.

Meanwhile, the Netherlands appointed a 36-year-old sprinter who is also a black athlete Churandy Martina from Curacao with skateboarder Keet Oldenbeuving, 16. They are the oldest and youngest athletes in the Dutch contingent.

Neighboring Belgium features representatives of the country's linguistic differences, namely heptathlete Nafi Thiam, who speaks French, and hockey athlete Felix Denayer, a Dutch speaker.

"It's an honor," black Swiss sprinter Mujinga Kambudji wrote with a true Swiss emoji on Instagram after he was chosen to carry the flag next to Max Heinzer.

"When I started athletics as a child, taking part in the Olympics never sounded very realistic. Today I am preparing for my third Olympics, and this honor makes this experience that much more special."