When he was little--yes, he once was--Yao Ming had a dream. As a student at the Gao'anlu No. 1 primary school in Shanghai, Yao longed to carry or hoist the national flag at the weekly schoolyard flag-raising ceremony.

More than 10 years after leaving school, Yao, now a towering 2.3-meter-tall basketball superstar in the NBA, is seeing his dream come true. The Chinese Olympic delegation announced on Monday he would be the flag bearer for China at the 2004 Athens Games.

"I am very excited, it's a longtime dream come true," Yao told Xinhua on Thursday, upon his arrival at the Athens airport with the Chinese men's basketball team.

At school, the teachers always chose the members of the flag detail and Yao was not a favorite.

"I waited the whole five years I was in elementary school, but I was never picked," Yao said. "I hate that teacher! No, no, no, just kidding, just kidding," he quipped.

"Seriously, the teacher's decisions were understandable," Yao said. "My academic performance was so-so and I was quite ordinary in every regard at that time."

No one calls him ordinary now. Since becoming the first non-American NBA top draft pick in 2002, Yao has blossomed into an international star with the Houston Rockets.

The 23-year-old has won two straight All-Star starting positions over Shaquille O’Neal and helped the Rockets reach the playoffs in his second NBA season.

His imposing yet genial image and popularity all over the world made him a natural for the honor of bearing the flag at the Olympics.

"Yao is very tall and presents a good image of Chinese athletes," said Xiao Tian, secretary-general of the Chinese delegation. "He played very well in the NBA and has a good image both on and off the court."

"He is a man of integrity and has good sense of humor," Xiao said. "He is the perfect choice as the flag bearer."

Although looking forward to this historic day in his own life, Yao is sorry that he will be carrying the flag alone.

"I thought there would be some supporting bearers going with me. That would be cool, but seems I will be on my own," he said.

Yao would also have liked to have some time to prepare for the big ceremony, but his American coach Del Harris is not cutting him any slack.

Harris, the first foreign coach for the Chinese men's team, merely shook his head and smiled when asked about a possible break for Yao. Less than three hours after his arrival at the Athletes' Village, Yao went to the Hellenic Olympic Complex to train with the team.

(Xinhua News Agency August 13, 2004)