Bulgaria's golden boy, marathon swimmer Petar Stoychev, will hold the Bulgarian flag aloft at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympic Games on August 8 2008, Bulgarian-language Dnevnik daily said.
The Bulgarian Olympic Committee chose Stoychev over Plamen Konstantinov, captain of Bulgaria's national volleyball team, and gymnast Yordan Yovchev.
The reason was his later start in the Olympics and the fact that this will allow time for the other two athletes to focus on their performances.
“It is a great honour for me and I hope I will perform well at the games so that people can be proud of me,” Stoychev said. His ambition is to win the gold on August 21 when he competes in the 10km race.
Stoychev won the world's admiration for winning the Open Water World Championship eight times. The only trophy he still lacks is an Olympic medal.
