Wrestler Saori Yoshida, the three-time defending Olympic women's 53-kg champion has been selected to captain the Rio de Janeiro Olympic delegation, the Japanese Olympic Committee said Friday.
The 33-year-old Yoshida, who was Japan's flag bearer at the 2012 London Olympics, will be the first woman to captain Japan at a Summer Games. Decathlete Keisuke Ushiro will carry Japan's flag at Rio's opening ceremony on Aug. 5.
Yoshida last year won her 13th consecutive title at the world championships.
Ushiro, who holds the Japan decathlon record, won the event at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.