25 August 2008 - LORIG (USA) and PELJOR (BHU) selected as Closing Ceremony flagbearers

LORIG (USA) and PELJOR (BHU) selected as Closing Ceremony flagbearers Beijing – 25 August 2008           The archer Khatuna LORIG (USA) was selected as flag bearer for the 2008 U.S. Olympic Team at the Closing Ceremony by fellow members of Team USA. Tashi PELJOR (BHU) also bore his country’s flag at the Beijing Closing Ceremony on Sunday 24 August.   To select the flag bearer, U.S. captains from each sport met in the Athlete Village Friday. "Being named the U.S. flag bearer for the Closing Ceremony is almost like winning a gold medal, maybe even better,” LORIG said. “I thought I could win a gold medal in competition, but I never thought I'd have this opportunity. I am truly, truly so proud to be an American citizen and part of the U.S. Olympic Team."           LORIG has the very rare designation of representing three different countries in the Olympic Games. She represented the Unified Team of the former Soviet Union at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona, Spain, where she won the bronze medal in the team competition. She competed for Georgia at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Ga., USA, and the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia. She immigrated to the United States and missed out on the 2004 Olympic Games as she was not yet a U.S. citizen. She received her citizenship in 2005 and competed in her fourth Olympic Games in 2008, representing the USA.           In Beijing, LORIG advanced to the quarterfinals of the women’s individual elimination round with an upset over the No. 10 seed Ana Maria RENDON of Columbia. LORIG, the 26th seed, fell to world record holder YUN Ok-Hee of Korea, who went on to win the bronze medal.   PELJOR was the second archer to be appointed as flagbearers by his country. He bore Bhutan’s flag at the Closing Ceremony in Beijing on Sunday. He ranked 56th in the archery Olympic competition, losing in the men’s individual 1/32 elimination round to the No. 11 WANG Cheng Pang of Chinese Taipei.   Ø      Complete List of Flagbearers             Sources: International Olympic Committee (IOC) United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Edited FITA Communication