XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Greece-Allan Julie, Seychelles’ flag bearer |11 August 2004

LASER sailor Allan Julie will be Seychelles’ flag bearer at Friday’s official opening ceremony of the XXVIII Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.

Three-time former Sportsman of the Year Julie has said that "I’m looking forward to carry my country’s flag at the opening ceremony of the world’s major sports celebrations."

Olympian Julie, who is making his third consecutive appearance at the Olympics has noted that he aims to better his 28th position achieved at the last Games in Sydney.

"This is my third Olympics and my target is a top 15 finish or better. Participating in a third Olympic Games is another experience and I expect to do even better than during the first two Games I competed in," he said.

It is to note that Julie was 36th out of 56 sailors during the 1996 games in Atlanta, U.S.A, and 28th out of 43 competitors in Sydney, Australia in 2000.

Asked if he knows the Agios Kosmas Olympic sailing centre where Laser races will take place, Julie replied: "I trained at the centre in 2001, 2002 and 2003. In February this year, I took part in the Greece National Championship which took place at the centre. The wind conditions vary from day to day and it is quite difficult to understand the different variations."