The cycling legend will be the nation’s flag bearer at the Rio Olympics opening ceremony, the Australian Olympic Committee announced this morning in Melbourne.

Meares will be the second cyclist to bear the flag after Dunc Gray in Berlin at the 1936 Games.

“I am humbled and want you to know how proud and honoured I am to be the Australian flag bearer and lead our Olympic team in Rio,” Meares said.

“For me, a country girl, a coal miner’s daughter, to become the second cyclist in history to be flag bearer for this country leaves me very emotional and proud.”

Queensland-born Meares, who has long resided in SA, is the only Australian woman to have won two Olympic cycling gold medals.

GOLDEN GIRL: Anna Meares winning the sprint cycling women’s title in Adelaide. PHOTO: Cycling Australia via AAP.

“As a little kid growing up in a sport-rich country like Australia, I always dreamed of being an Olympian, being an Olympic champion,” Meares said yesterday, before the honour was formalised.

“To have my name thrown around of being in the mix of being flag bearer is a big honour in itself.

“I think it’s reflective of not just how I have handled myself and what I have achieved in my career but the people who have had a big influence on me.

“What would it mean? Jeepers. I’d be speechless.”

Australian chef de mission Kitty Chiller said she was “looking for someone who was the epitome of the values that our team stands for”.

“So someone who just exemplified respect, humility, sportsmanship, excellence, integrity, who is a role model within their own sport but also within the broader Olympic family and within the community as well.

“The flag bearer is also the Australian team captain and the Australian team leader so it needs to be someone the whole team can look up to and respect.

“And someone that will really take on the role with the respect that it deserves and give back to the team as well.”

She said Meares was “the perfect choice”.

-AAP