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LeBron James’ Iconic Flag Bearing Moment With Coco Gauff at Paris Olympic Opening Ceremony Goes Viral
After the iconic moment where GOAT LeBron James and Coco Gauff carried the flag, King James took to Instagram to relive and celebrate it
Watching our favorites step onto the world stage of the Olympics, bearing the flag and the pride of their respective countries, stirs an emotion that's beyond words. And when someone like LeBron James, who has been making history for years, does it, it becomes something entirely different.
At the Olympic opening ceremony, LeBron James made history again. The 39-year-old NBA superstar, gearing up for his fourth Olympics, was one of the two flag bearers for the U.S. Olympic team in Paris on Friday, alongside Coco Gauff, the 20-year-old U.S. Open champion. Remarkably, James was also the first men's basketball player to carry the flag for the U.S. Given his GOAT status, was it a perfect first? We say it was!
LeBron James bore the USA flag alongside Coco Gauff at the Paris Olympics opening ceremony amid loud cheers from fans
A massive crowd watched the event live from Paris, with 300,000 people in person from specially built stands along the riverbanks and another 200,000 from balconies and apartments.
Even though Paris drizzled away, fans didn't let it stop them from witnessing the once-in-a-lifetime moment. The well-planned-out, open-air parade began at 1:30 p.m. ET featured an incredible performance by Lady Gaga. The crowd could not be more wowed by a stunning rendition of "Folie Bergère," performed entirely in French.
France's tricolor flag unfurled dramatically from the Pont d'Austerlitz Bridge as 6,800 athletes, wearing plastic ponchos, tried to keep their spirits high while navigating the renowned waterway in a massive flotilla of 85 boats.
Team USA's boat arrived later, but LeBron James and Coco grabbed the fans' attention and were welcomed with loud cheers. The NBA superstar and tennis sensation wore white blazers for the special occasion.
It was raining hard when the USA arrived at the ceremony, but fans braved the weather to cheer for their favorites and lift their spirits.
LeBron James' post on Instagram drew a barrage of gushing fans
After the festivities, James made an incredible post on Instagram that garnered nearly one million likes and over 12,000 comments in less than four hours.
James captioned his post with a crown and a salute emoji.
During an interview, speaking about the honor of carrying the country’s flag, King James said, "The United States team has given me so much over the past 20 years. In such a divided country, I hope this moment will unite us or bring us closer together."
To put into perspective how popular LeBron is, data compiled by CasinoOnlineIN shows that LBJ has more followers on social media than the population of 195 of the 203 countries participating in the Olympics. Only India, China, the United States, Indonesia, Pakistan, Nigeria, Brazil, and Bangladesh have populations larger than LeBron’s Instagram fan base.
LBJ has 151 million more followers than the official Instagram account of the Olympics.
LeBron enters the 2024 Paris Olympics with three medals, having won gold in 2008 and 2012 and bronze in 2004. Eight-time Olympic medalist Usain Bolt has 14 million followers on Instagram, and the most-medaled Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, has 3.5 million followers.
READ MORE: Top 7 Highest Paid Athletes at 2024 Paris Olympics ft LeBron James
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