Leon Draisaitl represented his homeland front and centre as the flagbearer for Germany during the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics on Friday.
The Edmonton Oilers center was named flagbearer on Wednesday for the Milan Cortina opening ceremony as a sign of recognition for one of the NHL’s biggest stars, as the league returns to the Olympics.
In a rare honor for a first-time Olympian, Draisaitl and ski jumper Katharina Schmid carried the flag in Friday’s ceremony after they won both an internal poll of German athletes and a public vote.
More than 135,000 people took part, the German Olympic committee said.
Draisaitl’s opponents in the vote for male flagbearer were Tobias Wendl, who has won six career Olympic gold medals in luge since 2014, winning every Olympic event he’s entered, and Nordic combined skier Johannes Rydzek, who’s heading into his fifth Olympics and won two gold medals in 2018.
When it shortlisted Draisaitl for the vote, the German Olympic committee said its criteria for a flagbearer included a history of sporting success and being a popular role model for fairness in sports.
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The main ceremony was in Milan. There were also other ceremonies and athlete parades in the Italian cities of Predazzo, Livigno and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
Schmid is heading into her fourth Olympics and won silver medals in 2018 and 2022. She carried the German flag in Predazzo and Draisaitl was in Milan at the main event.
The last time the NHL took part in the Winter Olympics in 2014, Draisaitl was an 18-year-old playing junior hockey in Canada. He was drafted by the Oilers later that year.
Draisaitl was the NHL MVP in the pandemic-shortened 2019-20 season, when he led the league in scoring with 110 points.
He was the leading goal-scorer last season before he and longtime teammate Connor McDavid helped Edmonton make a second consecutive trip to the Stanley Cup Final.
Draisaitl and Team Germany has a difficult challenge ahead of them in a group with the U.S., though it wouldn’t surprise anyone if he’s able to carry Germany further than most expect.
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