American ice hockey player Julie Chu was nominated and selected to represent Team U.S.A. as flag bearer for the Closing Ceremonies at the Sochi Olympic Games last night.
The four-time medallist — she has two silvers and a bronze in addition to the silver medal she won with her team this year — was “completely humbled and kind of in shock” when she discovered her team picked her to carry the flag, ending her fourth consecutive Winter Olympic Games.
Chu plays the forward position on the women’s team and helped land them in second place in the finals February 20, losing to Canada by a score of 3-2. Chu, who is Chinese-American, is the first Asian American woman to play for the US Olympic ice hockey team and is tied as the second-most decorated U.S. female in Olympic Winter Games history.
“I’m trying to finagle a hockey stick,” Chu joked when asked if she’d represent her sport by carrying the US flag in on a hockey stick. “I don’t know if they’ll let me.”
