Eddy Alvarez is part of the Olympic baseball team. He already won a medal for the U.S. team at the 2014 Winter Olympics in speed-skating.
Few athletes ever go to the Olympics and even fewer get to honor their home country as flag bearers in the opening ceremony. For the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, Team USA selected baseball player Eddy Alvarez, 31, and basketball player, Sue Bird, 40, to carry the honor for their team on Friday July 23. Being a flag bearer is an incredible privilege for both athletes. The Miami native tweeted about his excitement to get to play for the United States and be a flag bearer during Friday’s ceremony. “Thank you to everyone that honored me with this privilege! I will wave our colors proudly,” he tweeted along with the announcement. Here are five things you should know about Eddy! Baseball isn’t the only sport that Eddy excels at. Growing up, one of his earliest loves was speed-skating. Eddie competed at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi as a speed-skater for the U.S. team, where he won a silver medal. Eddy had tried out for the speed-skating team in 2010, but didn’t make the team at the Olympic Trials. After winning the silver, Eddy called speed-skating a “a young man’s game,” and said baseball was his “main priority” in a 2014 interview with TeamUSA.
