Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 - Beach Volleyball

Very proud to carry the national flag - Marco Grimalt

The Chilean beach volleyballer is looking forward to representing his country in Tokyo

Published 01:00, 22 Jul 2021

Marco Grimalt will represent beach volleyball among the nations’ flag bearers at the Opening Ceremony of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Friday and is honoured and proud to be one of the two Chilean nominees for the role. He and his teammate and cousin Esteban Grimalt are focused on their final preparations before the start of the beach volleyball tournament at Shiokaze Park on Saturday.

“It’s a tremendous honour! I am very proud to represent the athletes of Chile, our family and every Chilean at this opening ceremony,” Marco told Volleyball World right after he and Esteban finished their training session on centre court on Thursday, alongside Argentina’s Julian Amado Azaad and Nicolas Capogrosso.

“The athletes participating in the Games are the best in their disciplines and deserve to carry their national flags, and it makes me feel very proud to be nominated for this occasion,” he added.

The Olympic beach volleyball stadium at Shiokaze Park

Having tested out the centre court at the magnificent beach volleyball stadium at Shiokaze Park, Marco Grimalt is pleased.

“The venue is incredible!” he said. “It will be a big pleasure to play in a stadium like that. It’s a shame we will not have any spectators to cheer us on, but we will do what we do best, which is to play beach volleyball.”

“Everything here is very good. The people of Japan are very welcoming and make us feel very comfortable, even with all the pandemic-related restrictions,” Marco added. “We carry on pretty well and we’re feeling very secure.”

The Grimalts’ opening match is on Sunday, July 25, at 11:00 local time. They take on the Brazilian pair of Evandro Goncalves and defending Olympic champion Bruno Schmidt in a Pool E first-leg fixture.