A little more than a week after the U.S. men’s four class rowers won an Olympic gold medal for the first time in more than six decades, one of its members with local ties will again make history.
Chester County native Nick Mead was chosen as one of two athletes to be flag bearers for Team USA at the Olympic closing ceremony on Sunday, becoming the first rower to do so for the Americans. U.S. swimmer Katie Ledecky, who is tied for most gold medals by any female Olympian, also will be a flag bearer for Team USA.
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Mead, 29, from Strafford, is a 2013 graduate of the Episcopal Academy, where he started rowing as a freshman. He continued the sport at Princeton University until he graduated in 2017. His father rowed for Princeton, and his mother and brother were rowers at the University of Pennsylvania. In 2021, Mead was part of the U.S. men’s eight boat that finished fourth in the Tokyo Olympics.
Honored to lead @TeamUSA at the Closing Ceremony with Nick! Proud of my teammates here in Paris, and excited to celebrate with all of them on Sunday 🇺🇸 https://t.co/sw4ZzLP7FZ
— Katie Ledecky (@katieledecky) August 8, 2024
The men’s four team, with Mead seated in the bow position, won gold Aug. 1 at the Olympic rowing venue in Vaires-sur-Marne, located less than 20 miles outside Paris. They outlasted New Zealand’s silver-medal team by 0.85 seconds. It was the first rowing gold for a U.S. men’s four class boat since 1960.
Mead’s selection as a flag bearer is the latest excitement for the men’s rowing team. Days after clinching the gold, his teammate Justin Best — from Kennett Square and a Drexel University grad — proposed to his girlfriend of nine years, Lainey Duncan, live on NBC’s “Today” show.
On Thursday, Best was the one who informed Mead of his flag bearing duties in a video posted to X, formerly Twitter.
“I was just looking up a bunch of stats, and it has actually been a pretty historic games like so far for us, obviously. So us, flex, 64 years last time men’s four won the gold so that’s pretty hype. Obviously Katie Ledecky, the most decorated (U.S.) female Olympian. That’s a flex of a stat,” Best said. “And I think my favorite stat is that you are going to be a flag bearer alongside Katie Ledecky at the closing ceremonies. That’s the first time a rower (will do so).”
“That’s sick. … I got chills,” Mead replied. “I got to get a haircut.”
Nick Mead made history as a member of the first U.S. men’s four rowing team to win Olympic gold since 1960.
Now, he’ll make even more history as the first rower to lead Team USA as one of our flag bearers at the Closing Ceremony. 🇺🇸#ParisOlympics pic.twitter.com/4cBLXz4s6T
— Team USA (@TeamUSA) August 8, 2024