'So incredibly excited and honoured': Hall and Fear named Team GB flagbearers for Winter Olympics Opening Ceremony

Fear will carry the flag in the athletes' parade at San Siro, becoming the first British ice dancer to do so since Christopher Dean in Sarajevo in 1984.

Hall, who has 30 World Cup medals to his name, will lead the British team out in Cortina as he prepares for his third Winter Games.

Read More: ICE to have a role at the Winter Olympics in Italy

Read More: Where is the Winter Olympics and how can I watch?

Fear and partner Lewis Gibson won Britain's first figure skating World Championship medal in more than 40 years when they claimed ice dance bronze in Boston last year, and the pair also finished third at the European Figure Skating Championships in Sheffield in January.

"It was an out-of-body experience to be asked, and I am just so incredibly excited and honoured," said 26-year-old Fear, who was born in Connecticut to Canadian parents and raised in London.

"It means so much to me, but also it is this beautiful unity with the whole of Team GB across the villages. I hope to not drop the flag and to do everyone proud."

Team GB chef de mission Eve Muirhead praised the "positive influence" of Hall and Fear on the whole of the 53-strong squad.

"Not only are they both exceptional athletes, but time and again I have watched them both embrace our 'One Team' culture with open arms, supporting and uplifting those around them," said Muirhead, who skippered Great Britain to curling gold in Beijing in 2022.

"They are truly deserving of the opportunity to lead their team-mates into the opening ceremony and I hope they each feel an immense amount of pride as they soak it all in."