Nicky Nieves Elected Flag Bearer for 2024 Paralympic Games

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (Aug. 23, 2024) – USA Volleyball is proud to announce that sitting volleyball athlete Nicky Nieves has been elected as one of the two flag bearers for the Opening Ceremony of the Paralympic Games Paris 2024.

The Opening Ceremony will be held across Place de la Concorde and the Champs Elyssés on Wednesday, Aug. 28, at 8 p.m. local time (11 a.m. PT).

HOW TO WATCH THE PARALYMPIC OPENING CEREMONY IN PARIS

“I get to represent the country that made me who I am, with the best-of-the-best USA athletes by my side,” said Nieves, who won the gold medal with the U.S. Sitting Team in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro. “Thank you to my incredible team for nominating me for this honor and thank you to all the Team USA athletes.”

Nieves will carry the flag along with wheelchair basketball player Steve Serio. The pair was chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA athletes through a process led by the Team USA Athletes’ Commission.

They are the second duo to share the honor of leading the delegation into the Opening Ceremony, which serves as the official start to the Paralympic Games. Of the 225 athletes and guides who were named to the 2024 U.S. Paralympic Team, more than 140 are set to participate in Wednesday’s Opening Ceremony.

Nieves was pivotal in helping Team USA secure its first Paralympic gold medal in sitting volleyball at the Rio Games in 2016. She was unable to compete at the Tokyo 2020 Games due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The Women’s Sitting Team hopes to win its third consecutive Paralympic gold medal in Paris.

In addition to her athletic excellence, Nieves has been vocal about the importance of mental health and disability advocacy. Nieves founded the Limitless People organization in 2018 with the mission of removing barriers to allow everyone the opportunity to learn and play the sport of volleyball, both sitting and standing. She is also finishing her master’s degree in clinical mental health and is a member of the USA Volleyball Board of Directors as the women’s sitting volleyball representative.

“We nominated Nicky because she’s spent countless hours on boards, in training, and working to improve Paralympic sport for the next generation of athletes,” said U.S. Sitting Team player Katie Holloway-Bridge.

“Nicky’s energy is electric on the court, but her impact reaches so far beyond that. Her work as an advocate has advanced not only the sport of sitting volleyball, but the entire Paralympic movement.”