Flagbearer Candidates

Now that the uniform controversy has been resolved, we move on to some Opening Ceremony-related pieces of business that actually matter.  Who's going to receive the honor of carrying the American flag into Olympic Stadium?

A number of countries have already announced their flagbearers, many of whom are exactly who you would expect.  Novak Djokovic (Serbia), Roger Federer (Switzerland) and Maria Sharapova (Russia), without a doubt the most well-known international sports figures in their respective nations were no-brainer selections.  Canada's going with Simon Whitfield, the winner of the first Olympic triathlon in 2000 and the bronze medalist in Beijing.

The American process, of course, is a little more diplomatic.  The way it usually works is that once the entire team arrives in London, the captains from each sport will have a meeting.  Each captain will nominate one of their teammates, and the flagbearer is selected out of those choices.  It's not always the most recognizable name.  In 2008, the U.S. flagbearer was Lopez Lomong, who escaped life as a child soldier in Sudan before emigrating to the United States, becoming a citizen, and making the Olympic team.  In 2004 it was veteran women's basketball player Dawn Staley.

So, it's safe to say that it probably won't necessarily be who you'd expect.  It definitely won't be Michael Phelps or any of the other swimmers.  For the most part, the swimmers, with a few exceptions, don't attend the Opening Ceremony because they have early-morning competition the next day.  (That's true of athletes in some other sports, as well, but the swimmers are by far the most well-known athletes that will skip.)  The same can be said for the soccer players.  The preliminary games of the soccer tournament are being played throughout Great Britain.

With all that being said (and my strong feeling that it'll be an Olympic veteran), here are some candidates I think could be in the running to carry the U.S. flag into the stadium in London:

• Troy Dumais, Diving-Dumais is on his fourth Olympic team, but has never medaled.  The best he's done was fifth place on the springboard in Athens.  Also in Athens, Dumais was second in the synchronized competition with his brother Justin when they failed their final dive and finished last.  This is probably his last Olympics, and he'll be competing in both the individual and synchronized springboard events.
• Karen O'Connor, Equestrian-The oldest member of the entire 530-athlete strong U.S. Olympic team, Karen O'Connor is now a five-time Olympian.  Like Dumais, she's never won Olympic gold (her husband, David, a fellow equestrian, does, however).  She has a silver and a bronze from Sydney.
• Anna Tunnicliffe, Sailing-The defending Olympic champion in the laser radial class and last year's ISAF World Sailor of the Year, Tunnicliffe was born in England.  Her family moved to Ohio when she was 12.
• Kim Rhode, Shooting-A great Olympic champion in a little-known sport, it would be so great to see Kim Rhode get the honor of carrying the flag at her fifth Olympics.  The youngest member of the entire U.S. team in Atlanta, she won the gold in the double trap.  After winning the bronze in Sydney, she took gold in the double trap again in Athens.  They dropped that event from the Olympic program in Beijing, so she switched to the skeet.  And won the silver.  Yet, still, nobody's ever heard of her.
• Matt Emmons, Shooting-Yes, that's two athletes from shooting, but Matt Emmons would be just as deserving of the honor as Kim Rhode.  Emmons is perhaps best known as the guy who's cost himself a gold medal twice.  In Athens, after he'd already won the gold in the 50 meter rifle prone, Emmons was leading the three-positions competition with one round to go when he accidentally shot at the wrong target.  The misfire dropped him to eighth.  Then in Beijing, in the same event (and after taking silver in the prone), he was leading going into the last shot when he hit a target he'd already hit and ended up fourth. 
• Steven Lopez, Taekwondo-Steven Lopez is arguably the greatest athlete in taekwondo history.  A five-time world champion, he's won a medal in all three Olympics in which taekwondo has been contested.  Lopez won gold in the 68 kg class in Sydney, then moved up to the 80 kg class in Athens and won again.  He then took bronze in Beijing.  My guess is this is Lopez's Olympic swan song, so it would be nice to see him get the honor.
• Serena Williams, Tennis-I don't think this one is likely, but if the U.S. wants to follow the lead of some other countries and go with a tennis player, Serena would have to be the choice.  She just won her fifth Wimbledon crown and will be back at the All-England Club looking for her first Olympic gold in singles.  She and Venus also won the Wimbledon doubles title, and they're the defending gold medalists (they also won Olympic gold in 2000).  Oh, and they've added mixed doubles to the Olympic tennis program.  She'll be playing with one of the Bryan brothers (I think Mike), so she has a chance at three gold medals in London.
• Bryshon Nellum, Track & Field-Sometimes the flag bearer is an Olympian who has an incredible story of overcoming adversity.  I think Bryson Nellum would qualify under this criterion.  Nellum was a wide receiver/sprinter at USC when he was shot in the leg by two gang members, forcing him to redshirt in 2009.  He was told by doctors that he'd never again reach world-class speed, but Nellum proved them wrong.  He won the Pac-12 and NCAA titles before securing a place on the Olympic team with a third-place finish at Trials.