ZAGREB, February 2, 2018 – The 32-year-old Alpine skier Natko Zrnčić Dim will be the flag bearer for Croatia at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, on 9 February.
Zrnčić Dim is one of the best active Croatian skiers, and his best result was a bronze in the super combined at the World Championships in the French ski resort of Val d’Isere in 2009. Before the games in South Korea, he already participated in three Winter Olympic Games – Turin 2006, Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.
Zrnčić Dim will carry the flag in front of Croatia’s team consisting of 20 athletes who will be competing in four sports — Alpine Skiing, Bobsleigh, Luge and Cross-Country Skiing – at the 23rd Winter Olympic Games, which end on 25 February. After the 2006 Olympics in Turin, this is the largest number of Croatian athletes competing in any Winter Olympic Games.
In the last Olympic games in Sochi, the flag bearer was Alpine skier Ivica Kostelić. His sister Janica Kostelić, who is the best Croatian Alpine skier of all time, carried the national flag at three opening ceremonies for the Olympic Games: Nagano 1998, Salt Lake City 2002 and Turin 2006.
In Vancouver 2010, Jakov Fak, a biathlete born in the Croatian town of Delnice, had the honour of carrying the Croatian flag at the opening ceremony. Later in 2010, he joined the Slovenian national team and now competes for that country.
The first flag bearer for Croatia was figure skater Tomislav Čižmešija in Albertville, 1992. Four years later in Lillehammer, the honour to carry the national flag was given to Alpine skier Vedran Pavlek.
Croatia’s flag bearers at Winter Olympic Games:
2018 PyeongChang – Natko Zrnčić Dim
2014 Sochi – Ivica Kostelić
2010 Vancouver – Jakov Fak
2006 Turin – Janica Kostelić
2002 Salt Lake City – Janica Kostelić
1998 Nagano – Janica Kostelić
1994 Lillehammer – Vedran Pavlek
1992 Albertville – Tomislav Cižmešija
