Lilah Fear knows she will not be able to hold back the tears when she carries the flag at the Milano Cortina 2026 Opening Ceremony and that is ok.
The figure skater has been named as one of the two flagbearers for Team GB, along with bobsledder Brad Hall.
Fear will be charged with carrying the flag at the ceremony in Milan, while Hall is in Cortina, with this year’s opening ceremony spread over both venues.
And having been overcome with emotion when she was asked to carry the flag by Chef de Mission Eve Muirhead, Fear is expecting to be similarly overwhelmed on Friday evening.
She said: “I was walking into the dining hall and I was handed a phone where Eve asked me if I would accept.
“I started crying immediately but I was in the middle of the dining hall so was trying to find a wall where I could shake and bawl in privacy.
“I wear my heart on my sleeve, even when I try not to do that, it’s impossible. I’m going to be fully crying the whole time probably.
“I’m going to let myself, it’s beautiful to feel that much connectedness and honour. We are at the opening ceremony of the Olympics and I’m holding the flag.
“Let that in, feel that dream and move onto the next thing. The next day I’ll have to wake up early and train. It will be fleeting but I’m really embracing it while it’s there.”
Leading the team 🇬🇧#TeamGB pic.twitter.com/G06q0bHZQd
— Team GB (@TeamGB) February 4, 2026
Fear’s day will be action-packed, starting at 6am for practice on the ice before beginning her Olympic campaign as part of the team event at 10am local time.
She and partner Lewis Gibson will then watch their teammates in action before she allows herself an hour to get ready for the glitz and glamour of the ceremony itself.
The main concern for her surrounds the physical challenge of carrying the flag, readily admitting that upper body strength is not one of her superpowers.
She added: “I don’t know if we get to practise. I’m strong at what I do on the ice but I’m not strong at carrying large things, I’m five foot two, so I’m not sure what is going to happen. I might have to visualise and hope for the best.
“Lewis is so proud of me. It’s a little strange that it’s just me holding it but I represent both of us.
“I wouldn’t be here without Lewis, we are Lilah and Lewis. It’s really beautiful that I am holding a flag representing skating here in Milan. It’s not just me, it’s something bigger than us. It also connects us to all the flagbearers and athletes at previous Olympic Games and all of those dreaming of being at future Olympic Games.”
There are some noteworthy parallels in the selection of the duo. Fear is the first figure skater to carry the flag since Christopher Dean at Sarajevo 1984, with she and Gibson hoping to emulate what Dean and Jayne Torvill achieved 42 years ago.
Meanwhile, Hall follows in the footsteps of Stuart Parkinson, a fellow bobsledder who carried the flag in 1956, the last time the Games were held in Cortina.
He said: “It’s great to do it and it’s a real privilege. I heard that the last Games in Cortina in 1956, the flagbearer at the opening ceremony was a bobsledder as well, so it’s good to come around in circles.”