She's made America proud in five consecutive Olympic games, taking home three gold medals, one silver and one bronze. Now Kim Rhode will be bearing up the American flag again in the role of Team USA’s flag bearer for the Opening Ceremony of the XVII Pan American Games. The games, which will be held July 10 in Toronto, Canada, will be covered live starting 7:30 p.m. ET with the Opening Ceremony on ESPN and ESPN Deportes.
Rhode was nominated by the members of the U.S. Pan American Shooting Team and chosen by a vote of fellow Team USA members. She is the second-ever shooter to serve as flag bearer for Team USA at the Pan American Games. Lones Wigger also carried the flag in 1975. Wigger earned 18 medals over the course of six Pan American Games.
“This honor would not have been possible without my teammates and their nomination,” Rhode said. “In all the Olympics and Pan Am Games I’ve competed in, you always remember your first in everything you do. Being selected as a flag bearer, this is a first for me and I’ll cherish it!”
Having made her Olympic debut in 1996, Rhode is the only American to win an individual medal in five consecutive Olympic Games. Of her five medals, three are gold (1996 - Double Trap, 2004 - Double Trap, 2012 - Skeet), one is silver (2008 - Skeet) and one bronze (2000 - Double Trap). Rhode broke the Women's Skeet Olympic record with a near-perfect score of 99 at the London 2012 Olympic Games. She is also the only woman to win three individual gold medals in the sport of shooting.
On the Pan Ams stage, Rhode has earned two gold medals (2003 - Double Trap, 2011 - Skeet) and one silver (2007 - Skeet), and is seeking her fourth medal in Toronto, where she is Team USA's sole Women's Skeet competitor.
Don't miss Rhode and the rest of Team USA carry the flag live on ESPN. (For more information on ESPN coverage, please click here.) Though no coverage is specifically dedicated to shooting events, Pan American Games coverage will be provided through a variety of ESPN platforms, via TeamUSA.org and usashooting.org.
The 2015 Pan American Games will take place from July 10-26 in Toronto, and for the first time, feature all 28 sports on the Olympic program. The 17-day competition will feature more than 6,000 athletes from all 41 member nations of the Pan American Sports Organization competing in 37 sports, making it the largest multi-sport event ever held in Canada.
For more information and photos of Team USA at the 2015 Pan American Games, visit TeamUSA.org/Toronto2015 and follow @TeamUSA on Twitter.
