China's Gao Tingyu skates during the men's 500-meter competition at the ISU World Cup speed skating event in Calgary, Alberta, Dec 10, 2021. (Jeff McIntosh / The Canadian Press via AP)

Men's speed skating star Gao Tingyu and women's skeleton pilot Zhao Dan have been named as flag bearers for the host's delegation at the opening ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games, according to an official.

Gao, the first Chinese man ever to win an Olympic medal in speed skating after finishing third in 500m at the 2018 Games in South Korea, will share the honor with Zhao, a teenage skeleton athlete, to carry the Chinese national flag into the opening ceremony during the delegation march on Feb 4, when Beijing welcomes the world to the Olympics Games for a second time after having staged the summer edition in 2008.

Gao Tingyu, who came off the World Cup season with a gold and a silver in the sprint event leading up to Beijing 2022, expects to improve on his bronze finish in 500m from the 2018 Games to finish higher on the home podium

Gao, who came off the World Cup season with a gold and a silver in the sprint event leading up to Beijing 2022, expects to improve on his bronze finish in 500m from the 2018 Games to finish higher on the home podium.

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Zhao, a 19-year-old native of Inner Mongolia autonomous region, made her name heard in the sliding sport by winning an Intercontinental Cup title, a second-tier circuit of the International Bobsled and Skeleton Federation series, in Innsbruck, Austria, in December.

As a representative of the host's cross-sports talent development system, Zhao, who used to be a long jumper before being selected in 2018 into China's newly built national skeleton program, will challenge the world's best in the sport at the National Sliding Center.

A total number of 176 Chinese athletes will compete in 104 medal events at the Games, which will run from Feb 4-20 in three zones - Beijing's downtown, its northwest Yanqing district, and co-host Zhangjiakou, Hebei province.

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