Nesthy Petecio, Yesugen Oyuntsetseg, Abdumalik Khalokov, Aslanbek Shymbergenov, and Carlo Paalam were among the flag bearers in the Opening Ceremony

The Paris Olympics has officially started with its Opening Ceremony which was a unique part of the Games on the river of the Seine with boats during the Flag Parade.

Several of the top boxers have been selected as flag bearers of their nations during the Opening Ceremony including Abdumalik Khalokov, Aslanbek Shymbergenov, Nesthy Petecio, Carlo Paalam and Yesugen Oyuntsetseg.  

Among the Asian nations, India, Kazakhstan, the Philippines and Uzbekistan selected boxers as flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony in Tokyo three years ago and this time Mongolia joined the top boxing countries in the event in Paris.

Thirteen weight categories, 248 top boxers, 124 female and 124 male athletes from 69 nations will compete in the boxing event of the Paris Olympics from today.

Kazakhstan’s Tokyo flag bearer Kamshybek Kunkabayev qualified also for Paris but this time another boxer, Aslanbek Shymbergenov carried the national flag. The 31-year-old boxer is one of the gold medal contenders at the light middleweight (71kg) as he is the reigning World Champion in that category.

Mongolia’s Yesugen Oyuntsetseg claimed a bronze medal at the recent Asian Games last October and the women’s light flyweight (50kg) boxer received the right to carry the national flag in the Opening Ceremony.

Uzbekistan is one of the boxing powers in our sport, and their World Champion, Asian Champion and Asian Games winner Abdumalik Khalokov is the main gold medal favourite at the men’s featherweight (57kg). The 24-year-old Uzbek was involved to the Opening Ceremony as their flag bearer and he awaits the start of the Olympics with strong chances.

Eumir Felix Marcial, one of their boxing stars carried the flag of the Philippines in Tokyo three years ago and this time also boxers were selected to the same task. Their Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Nesthy Petecio and Carlo Paalam were the flag bearers from the Philippines in Paris.

Further boxers from other continents, such as Boxing Refugee Team’s Cindy Ngamba, Armenia’s David Chaloyan, Azerbaijan’s Mahammad Abdullayev, Bulgaria’s Stanimira Petrova, Cape Verde’s Daniel Varela De Pina, Mozambique’s Alcinda Panguana and Turkey’s Busenaz Surmeneli carried their national flags during the Opening Ceremony.

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