Duluth/Superior Native John Shuster Selected To Carry US Flag At Beijing Olympics
There's a first time for everything. According to SI Curling News, this year at the Olympic Winter Games a curler will carry the United States Flag for the opening ceremony.
Alana Meyers Taylor, a bobsledder, and John Shuster, a curler, were selected by their fellow athletes to lead Team USA by being the flag bearer for the 2022 Olympics in Beijing.
The sad part is, according to USA Today, Meyers Taylor tested positive for COVID so she will not be able to be a flag bearer, so speedskater Brittany Bowe will take her place.
This will be Shuster's 5th time back to the Olympics and I know he has been really training. He is in the best shape he has ever been and says he and the team really put in the work. He is returning as the guy to beat, not the latest joke the USA has put on ice. I'm not saying they are a joke, it's just that the USA hasn't been known to do well until the last Olympic games.
I like the fact that the USA is going there with confidence and also that other teams are looking at the USA with respect. They have been doing well with the world's best teams and winning. Confidence looks good on this team, and they are ready and both they and the rest of the world think they can repeat as champions.
John said on his Facebook page "My heart is full of fire and passion. One more sleep and we are off to Beijing. The excitement will never EVER get old. The work has been done, the time has been spent, the dreams have been made. Here we go."
You can see John Shuster carry the flag on the Opening Ceremony on Friday, February 4 at National Stadium. When he was informed he was carrying the flag he was told by his longtime teammate and lead, John Landsteiner, you can see it here. (He also called his family and filmed it.)