Alice Robinson and Finn Bilous have been named as Aotearoa's flag bearers for this year's Winter Olympics opening ceremony, the New Zealand Olympic Committee has announced.
The pair were formally announced as Nga Pou Hapai by Chef de Mission Marty Toomey in China on Thursday, marking the first time a male and female athlete have jointly carried the New Zealand flag at a Winter Games, following a recent change in regulations allowing for the naming of both.
“Alice and Finn embody the spirit and mana of our Winter Olympic team,” said Toomey.
Finn Bilous will carry New Zealand's flag alongside Alice Robinson at this year's Winter Games opening ceremony. (Source: 1News)
“They are great athletes who are trailblazers for their sports in New Zealand and role models for aspiring Kiwi athletes. They are both leaders off the field of play in both the sporting and wider community.”
“We look forward to watching them wave our flag with pride as they lead the New Zealand Team into the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games tomorrow evening.”
Robinson is headed to Beijing to represent New Zealand in alpine skiing while Bilous was selected to compete in the freeski slopestyle and big air events.
At Thursday's ceremony in Yanqing, Robinson was presented with Te Māhutonga - the New Zealand team’s kākahu [cloak] which has been worn by previous flagbearers since the 2004 Athens Games - with Bilous to receive his own cloak for the ceremony on Friday.
“This is an extremely special moment for me, my team, and my family and it means so much to be given the opportunity to carry the flag,” said Robinson.
“I’m really looking forward to representing our beautiful country in the opening ceremony and I can’t wait to put the fern on and get into competition.”
Bilous added he'd likely be wearing a "massive grin" throughout the entire experience.
“If you look back over New Zealand’s Olympic flagbearers, it’s an amazing list of people and I’m super honoured to be adding my name to that list.”
The pair will be taking part in their second Winter Olympics after debuting in PyeongChang four years ago.
Since then Robinson has won three World Cup events in the giant slalom.
Bilous heads to Beijing having come tantalisingly close to competing in the PyeongChang finals, just 0.8 points off that 12th place in the qualification round.
The pair will march Friday alongside New Zealand’s biathlon, freeski slopestyle and big air athletes, and New Zealand team support members.
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