The Opening Ceremonies are among the most iconic traditions in international sport. During the Parade of Nations, each country is led into the stadium by two athlete flag bearers, who are chosen either by peer-led vote or have their national committee appoint them.
Winter flag bearers at the Games are selected based on athletic achievement, perseverance, and leadership within the Olympic and Paralympic community, making it one of the highest individual honors an athlete can receive. From decorated bobsledders and speed skaters to military veterans becoming Paralympic champions, Team USA’s Winter Games flag bearers reflect the embodiment of the Olympic and Paralympic movement.
From the resumption of the Games after World War II through the modern era, Team USA’s Winter Games flag bearers have included multi-gold medalists, Paralympic champions, and decorated veterans. Learn more about the athletes below.
Jack Heaton is rated as one of the most brilliant skeleton athletes of all time, most notably his rides on the Cresta Run. Heaton’s Olympic career began at the St. Moritz 1928 Winter Games, where he won a silver medal in skeleton and a bronze in bobsled. Heaton changed trajectories at the Lake Placid 1932 Winter Olympic Games, securing the bronze medal in the two-man bobsled. After World War II at the St. Mortitz 1948 Winter Games, Heaton was chosen as the very first athlete to carry the flag during the Opening and Closing Ceremony.
Bobsledder James Bickford competed at four Winter Olympic Games, earning a bronze medal in the four-man bobsled at the St. Moritz 1948 Olympics. He was selected to carry the U.S. flag during the Opening Ceremony at Oslo 1952, then earned the honor again four years later at the Cortina d’Ampezzo 1956 Olympic Winter Games. Bickford is one of only three athletes in U.S. history to carry the flag more than once at a Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony.
A West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, biathlete Lyle Nelson brought the same military service disciplines as he competed in his fourth and final Olympic Winter Games at Calgary in 1988. Nelson was selected as Team USA’s flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony and later served as president of the U.S. Biathlon Association.
Competing in her remarkable eighth Paralympic Games, Candace Cable was selected to carry the U.S. flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Salt Lake City 2002 Paralympic Winter Games. A wheelchair racer in the Paralympic Summer Games and a downhill skier in the Paralympic Winter Games, Cable won 12 Paralympic medals in total, including eight gold. She was later inducted into the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Hall of Fame in recognition of her extraordinary career and impact on Paralympic sport in America.
Table tennis athlete Mike Dempsey served as Team USA’s flag bearer during the Opening Ceremony of the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games, marking his seventh Paralympic appearance. Throughout his Paralympic career, Dempsey earned three gold medals, four silver medals, and two bronze medals while representing Team USA across multiple Paralympic Games.
Basketball legend Dawn Staley carried the American flag during the Opening Ceremony of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. A leader on and off the court, Staley helped Team USA win Olympic gold medals in women’s basketball at the Atlanta 1996, Sydney 2000, and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She later became one of the most respected coaches in women’s basketball history.
Speedskater Chris Witty joined an elite list of Team USA athletes to compete at both the Olympic and Olympic Winter Games when she added cycling to her disciplines. Witty competed at four Olympic Winter Games as a speedskater, winning gold, silver, and bronze medals. She also represented the U.S. in cycling at the Sydney 2000 Summer Games, and was honored as the U.S. flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony at the Torino 2006 Olympic Winter Games.
Nordic combined skier Bill Demong won gold in the individual large hill/10km event at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, delivering one of Team USA’s most memorable performances of the Games. During a celebration at the U.S. Ski and Snowboard Team House, Demong learned he had been selected as the U.S. flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony of the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games.
Downhill skier and Purple Heart recipient Heath Calhoun was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony at his first Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver 2010. Calhoun would go on to win a silver medal at the Sochi 2014 Winter Paralympic Games and became a symbol of resilience and the warrior spirit that has defined several generations of Team USA’s Paralympic standard-bearers.
Cross-country skier and Nordic combined Team USA athlete Todd Lodwick became the first American athlete to compete in six Olympic Winter Games. At Vancouver 2010, Lodwick helped Team USA win the silver medal in Nordic combined and was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games, making it his record-setting sixth appearance at the Games.
Hockey player Julie Chu competed at four Olympic Winter Games and became the second-most decorated U.S. female athlete in Olympic Winter Games history with three silver and one bronze medal. A leader in women’s hockey and a tireless ambassador for her sport, Chu was honored as the U.S. flag bearer during the Closing Ceremony at Sochi 2014.
Downhill skier Jon Lujan was injured while touring in the U.S. Marine Corps, leading him down a path to competition that embodied the resilience and determination that defines the spirit of the Paralympic movement. At the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, Lujan was chosen as the U.S. flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony, the third consecutive Games at which a military veteran had carried the American flag during the Paralympic Winter Games Opening Ceremony.
Sled hockey goalie Steve Cash was the anchor of a Team USA program that won back-to-back Paralympic gold medals. Having led the U.S. to its second consecutive gold medal at the Sochi 2014 Paralympic Winter Games, Cash was selected as the flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony that celebrated Team USA’s dominant run in Paralympic sled hockey. Cash was inducted into the U.S Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame in 2025, celebrating his dominance in the sport.
Snowboarder Mike Schultz lost his left leg in a motocross accident and responded by engineering his own prosthetic design, the Moto Knee and Versa Foot — an innovation that went on to help other athletes with limb differences. At the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Games, Schultz carried the U.S. flag in the Opening Ceremony and then went on to win one gold and one silver medals in snowboard cross and banked slalom, embodying the ingenuity and perseverance at the heart of the Paralympic movement.
Four-time Olympian Erin Hamlin became the first U.S. woman to win an Olympic luge singles medal when she captured bronze at the Sochi 2014 Games. Her selection as the U.S. flag bearer for the PyeongChang 2018 Opening Ceremony came after a tie in the athlete vote versus speedskater Shani Davis, and a coin flip determined Hamlin as U.S. flag bearer.
After one of the most decorated performances by a U.S. athlete at a single Paralympic Winter Games, Oksana Masters was chosen to carry the flag at the PyeongChang 2018 Closing Ceremony. Masters won five medals — including two gold — across cross-country skiing and biathlon at those Games.
American curler John Shuster and speedskater Brittany Bowe served as Team USA’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Shuster, a five-time Olympian who led Team USA to its first Olympic curling gold medal at PyeongChang 2018, was originally elected alongside bobsled pilot Elana Meyers Taylor. When Meyers Taylor tested positive for COVID-19 and could not attend, Bowe carried the flag in her place. The pair became the first dual flag bearers for Team USA at a Winter Olympic Opening Ceremony. Bowe’s generosity extended well beyond the opening ceremony — she had also given up her own 500m qualifying spot at the Olympic trials to Erin Jackson, who went on to win gold in the event.
Four-time Olympic bobsled pilot Elana Meyers Taylor had been elected Team USA’s female flag bearer for the Beijing 2022 Opening Ceremony but was forced to miss the Parade of Nations after testing positive for COVID-19. In a moment of recognition and redemption, her fellow athletes voted her as Team USA’s Closing Ceremony flag bearer, allowing her to lead the American delegation into Beijing National Stadium.
Para alpine skiers Danelle Umstead and Tyler Carter were elected as Team USA’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Umstead, a four-time Paralympian competing in the visually impaired classification with her husband Rob as her guide, and Carter, a three-time Paralympian, were selected by a majority vote of the 67-member U.S. delegation.
Chosen by a vote of fellow U.S. teammates, three-time Paralympic snowboarder Keith Gabel led nearly 50 athletes into the Beijing National Stadium for the Closing Ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Paralympic Winter Games. Gabel also advocates for mental health and serves on the board of the Aspen Valley Ski and Snowboard Club.
Bobsled pilot and U.S. Army Sergeant Frank Del Duca and speedskater Erin Jackson, who became the first Black woman to bear the U.S. flag at a Winter Olympics, were selected as Team USA’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Ice hockey captain Hilary Knight, is a five time Olympian and medalist who scored the tying goal in the gold medal game and left Milano Cortina as Team USA’s all-time leading women’s Olympic goal scorer with 15 goals across five Games. Evan Bates, a five time Olympian and three time medalist in ice dance alongside partner and wife Madison Chock, became the first U.S. figure skater to carry the flag at an Olympic Closing Ceremony since Scott Hamilton in 1980.
Sled hockey captain Josh Pauls and Para alpine skier Laurie Stephens were selected as Team USA’s flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Milano Cortina 2026 Paralympic Winter Games. Pauls, competing in his fifth Paralympic Winter Games, won four Paralympic gold medals, having captained the U.S. national sled hockey team since 2010. Stephens, competing in her sixth and final Paralympic Games, holds seven Paralympic medals including gold in sitting downhill and sitting Super-G at her debut at Torino 2006.
Five-time Paralympian and dual-sport athlete Kendall Gretsch and three-time Paralympian Andrew Kurka were chosen to lead the 2026 U.S. Paralympic Team into the Closing Ceremony as flag bearers. In Milano Cortina, Gretsch captured one gold, one silver, and two bronze medals in Para Nordic skiing and biathlon, and Kurka completed his collection of Paralympic medal wins with a bronze victory in sitting Super-G.
From Jack Heaton’s post-war return to the Olympic stage in 1948 to historic flag bearers at Milano Cortina 2026, Team USA’s Winter Games flag bearers reflect the full depth of the Olympic and Paralympic experience.
You can explore their stories, medals, and contributions to Team USA’s legacy at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum in Colorado Springs, Colorado, the official destination for Olympic and Paralympic history in the United States.
Planning a visit? The Museum is located at 200 S. Sierra Madre Street in downtown Colorado Springs, part of Olympic City USA. Explore tickets and admission, museum tours, and top things to do in Colorado Springs during your trip.
The first Team USA flag bearer at the Winter Olympic Games was Jack Heaton, who carried the American flag at the Opening Ceremony of the St. Moritz 1948 Olympic Winter Games, the first Winter Games held after World War II.
Team USA Winter Olympic flag bearers are chosen through a voting process that prioritizes athletic achievement, leadership, and athlete representation for the Team USA community. Each sport’s National Governing Body (NGB) can nominate one athlete, and is managed by the Team USA Athletes’ Commission. The final nominees are put to a direct ballot when U.S. Olympic Team members vote for their peers.
Bobsled and Nordic combined have produced the most Team USA Winter Olympic flag bearers. Unlike the flag bearers from the Summer Games, the Winter Games honor is spread across a wider range of disciplines.
Yes, each country has two flag bearers, one male and one female. This was introduced at the Tokyo 2020 Summer Games to promote gender parity. This format was extended to the Beijing 2022 Winter Games, where Team USA had dual flag bearers for the first time in Winter Games history.
The Opening Ceremony flag bearers are typically selected before the Games and lead the entire national delegation into the stadium during the Parade of Nations. The Closing Ceremony flag bearers are often chosen during the Games themselves, frequently to honor athletes who had an outstanding performance or exemplified the spirit of the Games.
Free admission every Saturday in October from 2:00 p.m. until close, presented by Wings Credit Union. Valid Colorado ID required.
New decathlon exhibit, guided family tours, and $10 Colorado Resident Saturdays. Plan your October visit to Colorado Springs today.
Discover Team USA’s Ashton Eaton, the decathlete who defended Olympic gold at London 2012 and Rio 2016 to become one of the sport’s most dominant champions.
The Museum will open A Legacy of Victory: U.S. Olympic Decathletes on Sept. 24,
This fall, the United States Olympic & Paralympic Museum will transition to seasonal hours and continue offering admission options.
September at the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Museum brings new things to do in Colorado Springs, from guided tours to new immersive exhibits. Plan your visit!
Plan your August visit to the USOPM with back-to-school family activities, school group tours, daily guided experiences, and a special Games History Hour event.
Discover Team USA’s Shaun White, a snowboarding legend and three-time Olympic gold medalist who redefined the sport across five Winter Games.
