If chosen, Serginho will follow in the footsteps of beach volleyball’s Sandra Pires, who was a flag bearer for Brazil at the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney.
Lausanne, Switzerland, July 30, 2016 – Volleyball fans can now vote for Sérgio ‘Serginho’ Dutra Santos to represent the Olympic Games host nation as flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the 2016 Rio Olympics, set to take place at the Maracanã stadium on August 5.
Cast your vote here
Voting closes on July 31Serginho’s choice reflects the high standing of the sport of volleyball in the host country and is a nod to a glittering career that has seen the 40 year old player win Olympic gold in Athens in 2004 and silver medals at the Olympic Games in Beijing in 2008 and London in 2012.
The Brazilian libero has also won the FIVB World Championship in 2002 and 2006 and the FIVB World League a total of eight times (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009 and 2010). His many accolades include gold at the FIVB World Cup (2003), the FIVB Grand Champions Cup (2005 and 2009), the Pan-American Games (2007) and the South American Championship in 2011.
Although he announced his retirement after the London 2012 Olympic Games, he returned to the sport in 2015 to play in the FIVB World League.
Other volleyball and beach volleyball players reportedly in the running to be flag bearers for their respective countries are Sergey Tetyukhin, captain of Russia’s men’s volleyball team and three time Olympic beach volleyball gold medal winner Kerri Walsh Jennings, who is going after her fourth consecutive gold medal at the Olympics in Rio. The official list will be confirmed by the IOC before the opening ceremony.