Taufatofua was announced as a flag bearer ahead of Friday's Opening Ceremony for the Milan Cortina Olympics, and he appeared near the end of the night carrying the Olympic flag as a "messenger of peace," alongside Tadatoshi Akiba, Rebeca Andrade, Maryam Bukar Hassan, Nicolo Govoni, Filippo Grandi, Eliud Kipchoge and Cindy Ngamba.

Nearly 10 years after Tonga's flag bearer first went viral with his oiled-up appearance at the Olympics, he's back for 2026. (AP Photo)

Ceretti, a native of Brescia, Italy, just 90 minutes away from Milan, handed off the Italian flag to the Italian Carabinieri’s honour guard, the Corazzieri, during the ceremony on Friday, Feb. 6 at the San Siro Stadium in Milan, Italy.

Bowe, a four-time Olympian who was one of Jackson’s role models back in their hometown of Ocala, Fla., was one of the American team’s flag bearers at the 2022 Beijing Games.

Ukraine’s Winter Olympics flag bearer Vladyslav Heraskevych says that his teammates could stage protests at the Milan Cortina Games over the decision to allow neutral athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in Italy.

The unprecedented four-site, dual-cauldron Milan Cortina Winter Games opening ceremony replete with references to Italian icons and culture has started. This is the most spread-out Olympics in history,