Netball star Irene van Dyk has been named as the New Zealand team's flag-bearer at the opening ceremony of the Commonwealth Games in Delhi.
The veteran netballer says carrying the flag into the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium will be one of the biggest honours of her career.
"It's absolutely incredible to be the flag-bearer for such a brilliant New Zealand contingent," she says. "It's hard to describe how it feels, but it's an amazing feeling."
Born in South Africa, van Dyk moved to New Zealand 10 years ago and has played for the Silver Ferns more than 100 times.
The announcement was made at a ceremony in Delhi on Saturday, attended by Governor-General Anand Satyanand and the families of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay.
On Saturday, Australia named netball skipper Sharelle McMahon as its team's flag-bearer.
New Zealand's most experienced Commonwealth Games athlete, the shooter Greg Yelavich, says the opening ceremony of a games is something special that all athletes should experience.
This is Yelavich's seventh Commonwealth Games and he's looking to add to his tally of 11 medals.
Yelavich says the opening ceremony is definitely worth being a part of and walking around the arena on opening night is enough to give you goose bumps.
