The Turkish Olympic Committee announced on Thursday that wrestler Riza Kayaalp will carry Turkey’s flag at the Opening Ceremony for the 2016 Rio Olympics.
This will be Kayaalp’s third Olympic Games. He competed in 2008, then won bronze in 2012 after losing to eventual champion Mijain Lopez of Cuba in the semifinal.
Kayaalp avenged that defeat by beating Lopez in the final round of last year’s world championships. The victory gave Kayaalp his second world title and his sixth world medal.
In Rio, Kayaalp will compete on Monday, Aug. 15 in Greco-Roman wrestling’s 130kg (286.5 lbs) division. He is currently ranked No. 1 in the world in the weight class by United World Wrestling and will be among the favorites for Olympic gold.
Among his main competition will again be Lopez, who will also be a flag bearer for his country during the Opening Ceremony. This will be the third consecutive Olympics at which Lopez, a two-time Olympic champion, has carried the flag for Cuba.