Denisse VAN LAMOEN flagbearer for Chile at London 2012

The World Champion Denisse VAN LAMOEN will be the flagbearer of the Chilean Olympic Team during the Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. The reigning World Champion Denisse VAN LAMOEN will be the flagbearer of the Chilean Olympic Team for the Opening Ceremony of the London Olympic Games on 27 July 2012. The Chilean Olympic Committee selected the flagbearer by popular vote.

On 28 June the President of Chile Sebastián PINERA received the Olympic team to a formal farewell in the Presidential Palace “La Moneda” in Santiago. He presented the Chilean flag to Denisse VAN LAMOEN, who had won the individual gold medal at the World Archery Championships 2011 in Turin. The archer from Arica had become the first female Chilean athlete to ever win a world title.

The 32-year-old archer will return to the Olympics after representing Chile at the Sydney 2000 Games. VAN LAMOEN, who became Panamerican champion in May, will be one of Chile’s biggest medal hopes at the London Games.

“I am stronger than ever. There are lots of expectations and I think I can win a medal”, she said after being handed the flag of Chile.

Being selected as the flagbearer of her country is a great source of motivation. “It is as important as winning the World Championships, but it tastes different, because I was chosen by the people, by everyone who voted”, she told Radio Cooperativa de Chile. “Winning a World Championships means being the best at a given moment, and being chosen as flagbearer is about being loved by the people that have appreciated the way that I represented our country abroad. It is a great pride.”

World Archery Communication