Team chef de mission Anna Meares revealed her choices at the Monnaie de Paris, two days before the Games start with an unprecedented parade of barges along the River Seine.

French-born Fox, 30, who is considered the greatest of all time in her sport, is chasing three gold medals in canoe and kayak slalom at her fourth Games.

Ockenden, one of hockey’s all-time greats, is the first Tasmanian to have the honour.

“Even though I’ve known a little while, it’s really hit me today … all the emotions came up,” Fox said.

“It is probably the greatest moment of my career … just visualise us, leading our team down the Seine.”

Both athletes will start their Olympic campaigns only hours after their roles as flag bearers.

But Fox said the honour was so great she could not turn it down, even if she knew it might affect her preparation ahead of her first event.

The canoe and kayak slalom star said she used a Taylor Swift concert to test out the effects of a late night on her performance at the Games.

“I couldn’t say no, but we discussed it a lot,” said Fox, who is coached by her mother Myriam.

“I went to a Taylor Swift concert and used it as a simulation – I got the bus in … I had the best night of my life, got home late, did my hydration testing, did my meditation, ran through it all and then had a simulation the next day.

“I feel ready.”

Myriam, who was also an Olympic canoe medallist, said Fox was “a bit average” in the race simulation – but noted some things were bigger than competition.

“I’m not sure if it’s going to work in her favour, but what we know is that she decided it’s such an honour, such a privilege, that she was not going to say ‘no’,” she said.

“We looked at it, but in a minute she said ‘I’m going to do it’.”

Fox will defend her Olympic title in the C1 and is among the favourites in the K1 and the kayak cross, a new event at the Paris Games.

-TND