From Noah Lyles ending Team USA’s 100m medal drought to Olivia Reeves’ historic gold, The Paris Olympics has been memorable for Americans. However, among the most impressive history-making wins at this installment of the games belong to the Men’s Four rowing team. Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady, and Liam Corrigan broke an incredible 64-year-old dry spell after winning gold at the event in Paris.

However, just as the rower thought he was done for this year’s Olympics, his buddy Justin best dropped a bomb. Best was having breakfast with his teammates on Thursday when Team USA announced that Mead would join none other than Katie Ledecky as the closing ceremony flag bearers. However, Mead’s teammate wanted to surprise him with the news.

“I was just looking up a bunch of stats… Obviously Katie Ledecky, the most decorated (U.S.) female Olympian. That’s a flex of a stat,” Best told Nick Mead. “I think my favorite stat is that you are going to be a flag bearer alongside Katie Ledecky,” added Best. Mead left breakfast and looked up in disbelief. “I got chills,” the rower told USA Today while recalling the incident.

“I got to get a haircut,” added the Strafford, Pennsylvania resident. The 29-year-old went to Princeton University, one of the best colleges for rowing, and competed for the Princeton Tigers for three seasons. Although he couldn’t make it to the podium during the Tokyo Olympics, that changed in Paris. Now, he is set to join an exclusive club of athletes after an already historic win.

Just like the opening ceremony, every nation chooses its flag bearers for each Olympic closing ceremony. This year, NBA legend LeBron James and tennis star Coco Gauff carried the U.S. Flag during the opening ceremony. So, Nick Mead will join arguably the greatest female swimmer in history to do the same during the closing ceremony on August 11.

Nick Mead will walk beside the GOAT

Katie Ledecky was already the most decorated female swimmer in history, even before she booked her ticket to Paris. However, after the swimming event concluded, the Team USA swimmer left no doubt that she was indeed the GOAT of women’s swimming. The 27-year-old added two more golds to her collection and tied herself with gymnast Larisa Latynina as the woman with the most Olympic gold medals.

While she couldn’t quite catch Latynina’s overall 18 Olympic medals, she bumped up her overall number to 14 in Paris. Ledecky also became the only female champion to retain her 1500m Olympic gold medal. With 21 world championship medals already to her name, it’s not so difficult to see why Nick Mead got chills when he learned Katie Ledecky would be his fellow flag-bearer. It seems Paris 2024 may become the most memorable Olympic Games of the rower’s life.