Voting is under way to determine which member of Team GB will carry the Union Flag at the Opening Ceremony.
The selection of a flag bearer is considered to be one
of the greatest honours bestowed upon an Olympian, even more so for the
host nation.
Sir Chris Hoy, four times Olympic gold medallist, is favourite for the role.
He carried the flag for Team GB at the Closing Ceremony in Beijing and the BBC understands that Hoy's name is on a nine-person shortlist.
There had been speculation that he might miss out, as the track cycling squad had not been due to leave its training base in Wales until the following day.
The British Olympic Association has
indicated that all those who are due to be out of London at training
camps on 27 July will be eligible to carry the flag.
The athletics squad will be at its training base in
Portugal, but if a member of that squad is selected then he or she will
be flown back to London for the ceremony.
A number of rivals to Sir Chris Hoy for the honour have been ruled out because of the competition calendar.
Anybody due to compete during the two days following the ceremony will not attend, meaning Ben Ainslie and Rebecca Adlington will have to settle for watching on television.
Another contender is the rower, Katherine Grainger. She has won a silver medal at each of the past three Games, and would be a popular choice.
Others in the running are likely to include Tom Daley and Paula Radcliffe.
The British Olympic Association has altered the flag bearer selection process for these Olympics in order to give the competing members of Team GB a greater say.
Initial nominations were made by the 31 team leaders, who were each invited to put forward three names.
The nine most popular choices were put on a shortlist. One athlete representative from each sport will now rank their top three preferences from that shortlist.
The results will be compiled over the weekend, and the winner is due to be announced on Monday.
One of the challenges for the British Olympic Association over the coming days will be to ensure that the Team GB delegation marching out behind the flag bearer is as large as possible.
Many of the 542 team members have been told not to attend by their performance directors, who are worried about the negative impact that hanging around for all that time could have on their competition.
The majority of the two largest squads will be absent. The athletes will still be at their training camp in Portugal, and the swimming event gets underway the following morning. High profile names like Zara Phillips will also be absent because of the competition schedule.
The British Olympic Association accepts that although Team GB is the largest at the Games, it is likely to be dwarfed by an American team with many fewer absentees at the Opening Ceremony.
Sports like football will be under pressure to help swell the numbers of Team GB members in the stadium by allowing players to attend the ceremony, even though the football competition will already be underway.
Sumber : BBC
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