Lizzy Yarnold will wear Rainbow Laces in her shoes while carrying the Union Jack as the flag bearer for Team Great Britain at the Opening Ceremony of the Winter Olympics in Pyeonyang Friday night.
Team GB spokesperson Scott Field confirmed to Outsports that Yarnold will wear the laces designed to express support for LGBT in sports. Field added that various British athletes may be sporting the colorful garb.
“We made them available to our whole team of athletes at our Kitting Out process in Manchester,” Field said. “It’s the athletes choice to wear them.”
We first caught a glimpse of Yarnold in the laces in her Feb. 8 photo shoot after being named the country’s flag bearer.
Yarnold competes in skeleton and won a gold medal in Sochi. She was the country’s flag bearer for that Winter Games’ closing ceremony. She was selected to carry the flag by her peers on Friday.
The Rainbow Laces campaign was designed to allow soccer players a way to show their support for LGBT equality without violating league or team dress code, which apparently almost never discuss shoelaces.
You can find complete Winter Olympics 2018 coverage on SB Nation, and Outsports will have the LGBT angle.