05 August,2016 08:33 AM IST | | PA Sport
Andy Murray leapt from his bed in his underpants to learn of the honour of being Great Britain's flag bearer in Friday's opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics
Andy Murray
Rio de Janeiro: Andy Murray leapt from his bed in his underpants to learn of the honour of being Great Britain's flag bearer in Friday's opening ceremony at the Rio Olympics.
Andy Murray
The 29-year-old two-time Wimbledon champion did not expect to surpass winning Olympic gold at London 2012, but believes being named as Team GB's flag bearer for the extravaganza at the Maracana Stadium has done just that.
Murray was invited to see Team GB chef de mission Mark England on Tuesday night just as he was preparing for bed, before he was informed of his selection ahead of the likes of cyclist Sir Bradley Wiggins, boxer Nicola Adams and canoeist David Florence to become the first tennis player to land the honour.
'Huge honour'
"It's a huge honour to represent Team GB at an Olympic Games for the third time," Murray said. "I competed in Beijing and London, which for a British athlete to get the opportunity to compete at a home Olympics was incredible.
"I never thought I'd be able to top that. But last night was amazing. I was just getting into bed and I was in my pants - and our team leader came and said, 'the chef de mission needs to speak to you'. I jumped out of bed, ran downstairs and Mark gave me the news. I was speechless. I didn't know what to say. I was repeating myself a lot. I was humbled and I'll be extremely proud.
