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Brother lets brother carry Bermuda Olympic flag

Jesse (left) and Zander Kirkland in action. Jesse asked that his older brother be allowed to carry the Bermuda flag at the Olympic opening ceremony. File picture.

Zander Kirkland will carry Bermuda's flag at the opening ceremony tomorrow at the request of his brother Jesse who turned down the opportunity in a true display of Olympic spirit.Sailing skipper Jesse had been chosen to lead out Team Bermuda in the athletes' parade in front of 80,000 spectators at the Olympic Stadium and more than a billion TV viewers worldwide.But in a touching tribute to his sailing sibling, Jesse told the BOA he would prefer to see his older brother receive that honour at the glitzy opener in London.BOA Chef de Mission Stan Douglas said: “The sailing team qualified for the Olympics very early on and so we decided that Jesse, as the sailing team skipper, should carry the flag,” he said.“However, he said he would prefer to see Zander carry the flag instead as he is older than him.”The Kirklands qualified for the Olympics after producing a top ten finish at May's 49er World Championships in Croatia.