Former SLCC Baseball Player Will Lead Team USA Into Olympic Stadium
Jul 22, 2021, 10:12 AM
Eddie Alvarez (KSL TV)
(KSL TV)
TOKYO – A former baseball player at Salt Lake Community College was chosen as one of the two flag-bearers who will lead Team USA into the Tokyo Olympic Stadium during Friday’s opening ceremonies.
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Eddy Alvarez played shortstop at the school before chasing his Olympic speedskating dream.
He became a Silver Medalist in speedskating during the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics.
If he medals for baseball in Tokyo, he will become the sixth athlete in Olympic history to earn a summer and winter Olympic medal.
An honor unlike any other.@eddyalvarez90 and @S10Bird have been selected as #TeamUSA’s flag bearers for the #TokyoOlympics Opening Ceremony. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/w7VFMYANft
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) July 21, 2021
Only 136 athletes have competed in both summer and winter games and Alvarez is now a part of that group.
He is the son of Cuban immigrants and he started roller skating at five years old and speedskating when he was seven.
He took a break from skating during high school to play baseball and earned a full scholarship to play in college.
No. ✌️ with a ✌️-run BOMB 👏#ForGlory🇺🇸 | @eddyalvarez90 pic.twitter.com/4pHyBblvA8
— USA Baseball (@USABaseball) July 18, 2021
However, he turned down that scholarship to go back to skating because his dream was to compete in the Olympics.
After achieving that dream in Sochi he went back to baseball and played in the major leagues with the Miami Marlins.
Now that he’s representing Team USA in baseball, there is a good chance he could win a Summer Medal.
“The fact that I’d be representing not only Team USA Baseball but USA Speedskating who molded, did a lot of molding, this is killing me,” he said trying to hold back tears. “Absolutely incredibly honored. What a privilege.”
Thank you to everyone that honored me with this privilege! I will wave our colors proudly 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸 #GoTeamUSA https://t.co/eshDmDdmjS
— Eddy Alvarez (@eddyalvarez90) July 21, 2021
The big honor now is Alvarez will be one of two flag bearers for the United States during opening ceremonies.
You can watch him carrying that flag during live coverage of the ceremonies right here on KSL TV. With Tokyo 13 hours ahead of New York and 15 hours ahead of Utah, the opening ceremony will begin at 5 a.m. MDT.
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