The Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB) announced on Tuesday that it has chosen marathoner Vanderlei Cordeiro de Lima to carry the flag for the country's team at the opening ceremony of the XV Pan American Games, to be held in Rio de Janeiro on July 13.

De Lima is the two-time champion of the Pan American marathon, and won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics. At the marathon in Athens, he was leading when an Irish Priest attacked him, but he continued the race up to its end. For his sportsmanship, he was awarded with the Pierre de Coubertin Medal by the International Olympic Committee.

According to COB's President Carlos Arthur Nuzman, they decided to choose De Lima to lead the team because he was a symbol of Olympic ideals, such as fair play, tenacity and courage.

"I know that everybody would like to be in my place, but the Brazilian flag will be in good hands. I can imagine the Maracana (Stadium) crowded for the opening ceremony," added De Lima.

Other Olympic champions were given the chance to carry the flag at the opening ceremony before. Sailor Robert Scheidt did it in Winnipeg, Canada, in 1999, and volleyball player Mauricio Prado in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, in 2003.

Source: Xinhua