U.S. curling Olympian John Shuster became the first American curler to carry the flag during the Parade of Nations at the 2022 Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony that took place Friday morning in Beijing.
Ahead of the ceremony, the five-time Olympian–who led his team to America's first curling gold at the 2018 Winter Olympics–revealed the exciting news to his kids during a video call, and their reaction was priceless.
One of his sons, Luke, was so proud of his dad, he performed a mock ceremony in his classroom announcing the news to his third-grade classmates.
The priceless video can be seen, here.
Shuster joined speedskater Brittany Bowe as flagbearers at the opening ceremony which took place in Beijing's National Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest."
Bowe walked in place of bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor, who remains in isolation after testing positive for COVID-19.
This was the second time the venue was used to kick off the Olympic games after serving as the epicenter of the 2008 Summer Olympics.
USA Curling's Twitter page shared a video in which teammate John Landsteiner announced to Shuster he was designated with the honor of carrying the banner for the U.S.
The video preceded the clip of Shuster sharing the news with his kids.
Shuster said:
"Being chosen by my Team USA teammates is one of the greatest honors of my sporting career."
The coach of Team USA's men's curling team was also ecstatic and congratulated Shuster on Twitter.
"I couldn’t be more happy for him," he wrote, adding, "He embodies what the Olympics stand for! He’s an advocate for growing the sport of Curling. Most importantly he is a family man & an Iron Ranger!"
"We are all proud of you buddy!"
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