The Midwest and Chicago area will be well represented at the Winter Olympics Closing Ceremony as the two U.S. flag bearers have been announced for the grand finale.
Hilary Knight and Evan Bates were chosen as Team USA’s flag bearers, a fitting moment for the two medalists both in their fifth – and potentially last – Olympics.
The moment will cap what has been an incredible Olympics for Knight, who has said the 2026 Games would be her last.
The suburban Chicago native got engaged to fellow Olympian Brittany Bowe and went on to score the game-tying goal that sent the U.S. women’s hockey team into overtime in their final match against Canada, setting an Olympic scoring record in the process and ultimately going on to win gold.
For Bates, a Michigan native, the 2026 Olympics marked medal redemption.
He, alongside wife and skating partner Madison Chock, affectionately named by teammates “Mr. and Mrs. America,” scored a silver medal after falling short of the podium in their 2022 appearance. The duo skated one of the best performances of their career, but their second place finish was the source of controversy as many believed they should have won gold.
“We’ve already won in so many ways… we wouldn’t have changed anything about how we skated,” a visibly emotional Chock said after the event.
“This definitely hurts,” she added before breaking down in tears.
Madison Chock and Evan Bates call their Olympic silver bittersweet, saying they are proud of how they skated and grateful for their 15 year journey together.
“We really felt that we had four gold medal performances and that’s what we’re going to take away,” Bates said.
As for whether or not these Games would be their last, Bates and Chock were noncommittal, though Bates did at one point jokingly say he was “thinking 2034.”
Coverage of the 2026 Olympics Closing Ceremony will begin at 1:30 p.m. CT on Feb. 22 on NBC, Peacock and NBCOlympics.com.
