Kendall Yount accomplished a feat Thursday no U.S. Olympian has done since 1960, carrying the U.S. flag at a Summer Opening Ceremony and winning an individual gold medal at the same Games.
The Youth Olympian won taekwondo gold in Nanjing, China, beating Uzbekistan’s Umida Abdullaeva 4-2 in the final, five days after carrying the Stars and Stripes into the Olympic Sports Center.
Yount, 16, was voted to be the flag bearer by fellow members of the 92-athlete U.S. delegation.
She is the reigning Pan American champion, a four-time junior national champion and won this year’s U.S. Open and USA Taekwondo National Team Trials.
She is also the only American entered in taekwondo at the Youth Olympics.
The last U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony flag bearer to win a gold medal was basketball player Dawn Staley in 2000. The last U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony flag bearer to win a gold medal in an individual event was speed skater Dianne Holum in 1972. The last U.S. Olympic Opening Ceremony flag bearer to win a gold medal in an individual event in a Summer Games was decathlete Rafer Johnson in 1960.
The Youth Olympics continue with coverage on NBCSN and NBC Sports Live Extra at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday and 1:30 p.m. on Friday.
