Eliud Kipchoge to bear flag at Olympic Winter Games opening ceremony
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Reading Time: 2min | Tue. 03.02.26. | 15:33
Kipchoge’s selection as flag bearer highlights his enduring role as a global ambassador for sport and Olympic values
Kenyan marathon legend Eliud Kipchoge, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, will make a historic return to the Olympic stage as a flag bearer at the opening ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
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The 41-year-old athletics icon is among eight distinguished individuals selected by the International Olympic Committee and Fondazione Milano Cortina 2026 to carry the Olympic Flag into San Siro Olympic Stadium on Friday, 6 February.
The chosen bearers, both athletes and luminaries, embody the ideals of peace, unity and solidarity that define the Olympic Movement.
Kipchoge, a five-time Olympian, first made his mark at the 2004 Athens Games, winning bronze in the 5000 meters.
He followed that with silver in the same event at Beijing 2008 before turning his focus to the marathon, where he claimed Olympic gold in Rio 2016 and Sapporo 2021.
He most recently competed at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Beyond his Olympic triumphs, Kipchoge has twice broken the world marathon record, clocking 2 hours 1 minute 39 seconds in Berlin in 2018 and improving it to 2 hours 1 minute 9 seconds four years later in the same city.
His influence extends beyond athletics as he serves as a UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador for Sport, Integrity and Values and in 2023 became a mentor for the U20 World Athletics Athlete Refugee Team.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, officially the XXV Olympic Winter Games, are scheduled from Friday, 6 to Sunday, 22 February across Lombardy and Northeast Italy.
Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo became the first cities to co-host the Winter Games after winning the bid over Stockholm and Åre, Sweden.
Milan will host most ice events, while competitions in skiing and other sports will take place in clusters around Cortina and the Valtellina and Fiemme valleys.
This will mark Italy’s third Winter Olympics and fourth overall, with Cortina d’Ampezzo previously hosting in 1956.
The 2026 Games will debut ski mountaineering as a Winter Olympic sport and will be the first games under the IOC presidency of Kirsty Coventry.
Kipchoge’s selection as flag bearer highlights his enduring role as a global ambassador for sport and Olympic values.
