Speedskater Erin Jackson, bobsledder Frank Del Duca picked as US flagbearers for Winter Olympics

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Speedskater Erin Jackson already has made history, as the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Bobsledder Frank Del Duca is a sergeant in the Army, hailing from a family with deep Italian roots.

They might be the perfect pair to lead the U.S. into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Jackson, 33, and Del Duca, 34, were selected by a group of their fellow Olympians as the U.S. flagbearers for Friday night’s opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Games. Jackson will become the eighth U.S. speedskater to carry the flag into an Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, while Del Duca will be the first bobsledder to carry the flag into an opening in 70 years.

“Being chosen to represent the United States on the world stage is a tremendous honor,” Jackson said in a statement Tuesday from the USOPC. “It’s a moment that reflects far more than one individual — it represents my family, my teammates, my hometown, and everyone across the country who believes in the power of sport. The Olympics remind us of the power of sport to connect and inspire, and I’m proud to carry that forward on the Olympic stage.”

It will be an unusual opening ceremony, given that these are the most spread-out Olympics ever. The main ceremony is in Milan; there will be other ceremonies and athlete parades in the Italian cities of Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.

And for Del Duca, the top U.S. bobsled pilot in both two- and four-man racing, an already-special Olympic opportunity in his family’s homeland just got even more significant. He said Tuesday that he was surprised by the flagbearer nod.

“I grew up with a lot of Italian and Italian-American influence in my life,” Del Duca said in an interview with The Associated Press last month. “Three out of my four grandparents were Italian. My name is Frank Joseph Del Duca IV. It’s not the most Italian name, but it’s clearly Italian.

“I grew up on the food. I grew up in that Italian American culture. So much of my life has been Italian American, which is not the same as Italian, but we’re very proud of our ancestry.”

U.S. bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor was picked to carry the American flag at the 2022 Beijing Olympics but tested positive for COVID-19 — forcing the postponement of her flag-carrying chance until the closing ceremony of those games. She was replaced at the Beijing opening by speedskater Brittany Bowe, and this time, it’s Jackson’s turn to have that moment.

Del Duca was fourth in both two- and four-man at last season’s world championships on his home track in Lake Placid, New York. He made his Olympic debut at Beijing four years ago, finishing 13th in both races.

Now, he wears his country’s colors in the Olympics again. That means the world to any athlete. It’s especially significant to Del Duca as a member of the Army — and even more so, he insists, with these games in his family’s homeland.

“It means a lot. It really does. It means a lot,” Del Duca said. “It would be cool anywhere, but the fact that it’s in Italy, I think our family is just that much more excited. My grandparents are no longer around, but they always rooted for Italy and the U.S. And they said the perfect day would be the Italians and the Americans tying for gold. So, yes, this is cool. It’s a cool opportunity.”

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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics