Yao Ming to bear Chinese flag at opening ceremony

It's always an easy guess on who will carry the Chinese flag at the Summer Olympics' opening ceremony.

When top sports officials consider the choice of a flag-bearer, they turn to tall and good-looking men's basketball players.

In Athens, it's Yao Ming's turn.

The Chinese national team's and NBA Houston Rockets' center has been chosen to bear the flag in Friday's opening ceremony because he represents a new image of Chinese athletes, said Xiao Tian, secretary general of the Chinese Olympic delegation Tuesday.

"Yao is very tall and represents a good image of Chinese athletes. He is a man of integrity and has good sense of humor," he said.

"He is the perfect one to be the flag-bearer."

The 2.26-meter (7/6) Yao, who was the NBA overall No.1 draft pick in 2002, carried the Olympic torch on its final leg when it passed through Beijing in June.

"Furthermore, Yao is very popular with Chinese youngsters and represents the image of the Chinese youth," Xiao added.

In the past five Olympic Games, the Chinese flag-bearers all came from the men's basketball team despite a string of poor Olympic results posted by the team whose best ever finish was an eighth place.

All of the flag-bearers stand over 2 meters with five out of six playing as centers.

The 2m-tall Liu Yudong had carried the flag twice, in 1996 and 2000.

In 1992, the 2m forward Song Li led the Chinese delegation into Barcelona's opening ceremony.

The 2.08m center Song Tao carried the flag in the 1988 Olympic Games where China picked up only five gold medals in the country's poorest Olympic performance.

The 2.02m center Wang Libin was the flag-bearer in the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, where China lifted its first ever Olympic gold through sharpshooter Xu Haifeng and a total of 15 golds.