“Tremendous honor” – Coco Gauff’s coach Brad Gilbert delighted as American grabs flag-bearer duty alongside LeBron James at Paris Olympics 2024

Coco Gauff's coach Brad Gilbert was delighted as the American was chosen as one of the flag bearers for Team USA at the opening ceremony at the 2024 Paris Olympics. She will be joined by NBA superstar LeBron James.

Gauff became the youngest flag bearer for the USA at the Olympics at 20 years old and the first tennis player to be bestowed this honor. The American's coach Brad Gilbert was delighted with the news and took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his reaction. He wrote:

"Tremendous honor."

Gauff and James were chosen after a vote by fellow Olympians and the World No. 2 thanked them for choosing her.

"I just want to say thank you to my fellow team usa olympians/athletes for voting and choosing me for this incredible honor to be the flag bearer for the opening ceremony. Thank you so much. I am incredibly honored," she said.

Coco Gauff: "Olympics is a top priority... equal to the Grand Slams"

Coco Gauff at the Ecotrans Ladies Open Berlin 2024 (Source: Getty)

Coco Gauff recently talked about participating in the Olympics and missing the Tokyo Olympics during a press conference at the 2024 Italian Open. She said that it was a priority for her, as it has equal importance as a Grand Slam. The 20-year-old added that she would try hard to win a medal.

"I mean, for me, the Olympics is a top priority. I would say equal to the Grand Slams. Obviously, I always want to do well, try to get a medal. Yeah, I mean, but the prep is going to be interesting because I've never done the grass-to-clay transition before," Coco Gauff said.

The American stated that she was not putting too much pressure on herself and would take it as a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

"Yeah, I'm not putting too much pressure on it because I really want to fully indulge in the experience. Hopefully I can have the experience multiple times in my lifetime. I'll treat it as a once-in-a-lifetime experience," she said.

Talking about missing the previous edition of the Olympics, she said it was out of her control and felt better after her fellow players told her that the experience was not the same due to COVID restrictions.

"It was out of my control. The players made me feel better because they said with the COVID it wasn't the same. I did feel better. I don't know if they were trying to make me feel better about missing it or they were being truthful," she said.

Coco Gauff will play singles, doubles with Jessica Pegula, and mixed doubles with Taylor Fritz.