At the 2024 Olympics in Paris, France, Nigerian Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the 1st black flagbearer for Greece.
There is news about Greek and Nigerian professional basketball player Giannis Sina Ugo Antetokounmpo.
21:10 - 07.07.2024
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Nigerian Freak leads Greece to 2024 Olympics in tears
Nigerian Freak Giannis Antetokounmpo explodes to tears as Greece beat Croatia to book a place in the men's basketball event of the 2024 Olympics.
The star for the Milwaukee Bucks of the NBA is trending as he is set to take part in the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.
20:15 - 01.07.2024
Giannis Antetokounmpo: Nigerian Freak celebrates Kendrick Lamar's Not Like Us Drake diss with Greece
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Giannis Antetokounmpo named Greece's flagbearer for 2024 Olympics
Greece has declared that Giannis Antetokounmpo will be the male flagbearer representing the country in the 2024 Olympic Opening Ceremony in Paris.
In the most recent Olympic Qualifying Tournaments (OQT), the NBA star helped the Greek men's basketball team win and guarantee their spot in the Games.
Greece defeated Croatia in the championship game to secure their trip to Paris thanks to a goal from Giannis Topoulos.
The Milwaukee Bucks star was voted NBA Finals MVP in 2021 after the team won the championship, and he was selected Most Valuable star in the NBA twice (in 2019 and 2020).
When he marches in the athlete's parade in the French capital on July 26, with race walker Antigoni Ntrismpioti, who was chosen as the female flag carrier for the European country, he will become the first black flagbearer for Greece at an Opening Ceremony.
Giannis and Greece
The parents of Antetokounmpo left Nigeria and immigrated to Greece.
With no documents from Nigeria or Greece, Antetokounmpo was essentially stateless for the first eighteen years of his life and was unable to leave Greece.
Less than two months before the NBA draft, in May 2013, he was finally granted Greek citizenship.
There was "unanimity" in the choice of Antetokounmpo to fly the Greek Olympic Committee flag in Paris, according to Spyros Kapralos, the organization's president.
Giannis Olympics background
On Sunday, July 7, 2024, Greece overcame Croatia 80-69 to guarantee their place in the Olympic Games for the first time since 2008.
With Giannis Antetokounmpo leading the way with 23 points and 8 rebounds, Greece dominated the whole contest and sent cheers through the crowded Peace and Friendship Stadium in Piraeus.
Greece's triumph over the oddsmakers, who projected Greece as the pre-tournament favorite to win the OQT and secure a spot in the men's basketball competition at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, was validated by the enthusiastic support of the home fans.
After the success, Nigerian-born Antetokounmpo, who was attending the Olympics for the first time, broke down in tears.
Greece has participated in four Olympic Games; its best result was three fifth-place finishes.