"Coco Gauff goes 'There’s no way they select me'" - Christopher Eubanks recalls 'biggest honor' of informing compatriot about Olympic flag-bearer role

Christopher Eubanks recently recalled one of his "biggest honors" of informing Coco Gauff that she had been chosen as the flag-bearer for the United States at the 2024 Paris Olympics. Gauff, along with basketball legend LeBron James, led the American contingent during the opening ceremony.

Gauff had a remarkable year in 2023, kicking off the year by winning the 2023 ASB Classic and claiming three other singles titles - the Mubadala Citi DC Open, the Cincinnati Open, and her first Grand Slam title at the US Open.

Coco Gauff made her Olympic debut in Paris this year. She was named the female flag-bearer for the USA at the Opening Ceremony, which took place on July 26th. She also became the first American tennis player and the youngest American to carry the flag during the ceremony.

The World No. 3 was accompanied by basketball legend LeBron James, who made his fourth Olympic appearance and was named the male flag-bearer for the US team.

Christopher Eubanks, who represented USA in tennis at the Paris Olympics, recalled the moment when he informed Gauff of her flag-bearing role. He said he had nominated Gauff for the position after consulting with her, despite her initial disbelief that a tennis player would be chosen.

“The way the nomination process worked is all the players were emailed and told you could nominate someone on the team. I knew I wanted to nominate her but I wanted to check with her first. I don’t wanna put you in something you didn’t wanna do. I was like ‘I’m gonna nominate you, are you ok with that? She goes ‘Oh, they’re not gonna have a tennis player. There’s no way they select me,’” Eubanks said.

Eubanks explained that he nominated Gauff because of her significant contributions to tennis and helping "elevate" the sport across the globe in 2023.

“I politely tried to tell her ‘I don’t think you realize how big of a deal you are right now. Your year last year… You helped elevate tennis all across the globe. I think you have a good chance.’ She brushed it off. I nominated her. I didn’t hear anything back,” he added.

Christopher Eubanks said that when he was going in for the Team USA experience, he got to know that Coco Gauff had been selected as the female flag bearer and that he was to inform her about it.

“As we’re getting ready for the Team USA experience, we get off the van and we’re all arriving together. Our PR person pulls me to the back and tells me he wants me to tell Coco in front of the whole team we’re gonna select her as a flag bearer… in my head I’m like ‘Ok, I have twenty minutes to figure out what I’m gonna say. How am I gonna do this?’” Christopher Eubanks continued.

Eubanks expressed that giving Coco Gauff the news of her role as the flag bearer was "one of the biggest honors of his life".

“It was one of the biggest honors of my life to be able to tell her she was the first tennis player to ever be selected as a flag bearer. Especially considering she didn’t think she had a chance to do it. That was such an honor for me and it we so cool to see you up front waving the flag with LeBron,” he said.

Coco Gauff: “Never thought I would have the honor of carrying the American flag”

While talking about being chosen as the female flag bearer for the USA at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Coco Gauff said that she never imagined in a million years that she would have the honor of carrying the American flag at such a major event.

“I never thought in a million years I would have the honor of carrying the American flag for Team USA in the Opening Ceremony,” Coco Gauff said [via United States Olympic & Paralympic Committee (USOPC)].

Gauff is currently competing at the 2024 US Open. She is seeded third in the tournament and began her title defense by defeating Varvara Gracheva 6-2, 6-0 and Tatjana Maria 6-4, 6-0 in the first and second rounds, respectively. She most recently triumphed over 27th seed Elina Svitolina 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the third round.

Looking ahead, Coco Gauff will go up against compatriot and 13th seed Emma Navarro in the fourth round of the New York Slam on 1st September.