On Friday 26, July, the worlds best athletes sailed along the Seine River and into Champion Park as the Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony began. Without a doubt, Team Liberia made its mark as the best dressed — a repeat from the last Games.
Here’s Liberia’s journey through the Opening Ceremony.
Opening Ceremony designer
Liberian American designer Telfar Clemens created the Opening look for the Liberia Olympic Team for a second time.
This time around, Team Liberia’s Opening Ceremony outfits made a bold and powerful Black statement. The long black gowns featured a neckline in the shape of Africa and a netted-mesh sleeve flowing all the way down the right side of the garment. “Liberia” was printed in white letters and ran down the left side of the outfit, while the Telfar logo sat prominently on the right. An absolute hit!
ESPN, Essence, Dazed, and other media sites recognized and celebrated the outfits on their social and editorial platforms.
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The Opening Ceremony flag bearers
This year, Paris repeated the duo flag-bearer trend that Tokyo started in 2020. Both a male and female athlete was selected to bear each country’s flag. Liberia selected men’s 100m national record-holder Emmanuel Matadi(33) along with sprinter Thelma Davies(24).
Matadi, an Olympic veteran was the flag bearer in 2016 and is competing in his third Olympic Game. On the other hand, Davies is making her Olympic debut in the women’s 100m and 200m race.
“Yesterday was amazing,” Davies told GTL, a day after the Ceremony. “And to be selected as our country’s flag bearer was an honor.”
The Liberian sprinter eluded to the gloomy weather, but complimented the production which featured show-stopping performers, high energy, and a sparkling Eiffel Tower.
“People were watching worldwide and, even in Liberia, that sense of pride and dignity that we were able to capture on TV to Mama Liberia was amazing,” Davies said.
The boat entourage
Liberia has eight athletes competing in six track events: the men’s and women’s 100m and 200m, women’s 100 meter hurdles, and men’s 4x100m relay.
During the Opening Ceremony hurdler Ebony Morrison(29) and sprinter Joseph Fahnbulleh(22) joined Matadi and Davies on the procession boat along with Liberia Olympic Track coach Sayon Cooper. Both Morrison and Fahnbulleh competed in the 2020 Olympics and won African Championships this year.
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Four Liberian athletes were noticeably absent from the boat. According to a Liberian National Olympic Committee official, the Olympic organizers assigned different quotas to each country. Liberia was allowed four athletes and one official as a part of its entourage.
The remaining four athletes representing Liberia at the Games are women’s 100m national record-holder Destiny Smith-Barnett(28) and men’s 4×100 relay members Jabez Reeves(21), John Sherman(19), and Akeem Sirleaf(27).
What’s next
Liberia will begin its Paris 2024 appearance with Davies and Smith-Barnett on Friday, 2 August in round one of the women’s 100m race. LNTV will stream all track events in Liberia, while other fans around the world can check their local tv listings for where to watch. Check out the round-one race schedules.
- Fri, 2 August: Women’s 100m, round one
- Sat, 3 August: Men’s 100m, round one
- Sun, 4 August: Women’s 200m, round one
- Mon, 5 August: Men’s 200m, round one
- Tues:
- Wed, 7 August: Women’s 100mH, round one
- Thurs, 8 August: Men’s 4×100 relay, round one
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