RIO DE JANEIRO — Unlike the last four Olympics, Michael Phelps will be taking part in the opening ceremony for the Rio Games.
And he’ll have something to carry.
Phelps will be the bearer of the United States flag during the Friday night ceremony at Maracana Stadium, selected in a vote by all members of the American Olympic team.
The decision announced Wednesday makes Phelps, the most decorated athlete in Olympic history, only the second swimmer to lead the US delegation in the opening ceremony. Gary Hall was the first at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
‘‘I’m honored to be chosen, proud to represent the US, and humbled by the significance of carrying the flag and all it stands for,’’ Phelps said.
His selection was an obvious choice. Phelps has captured 18 golds and 22 medals overall, far more than any other athlete in Olympic history, and he is the first American male swimmer to qualify for five Olympics.
But this will be the first time Phelps has participated in the opening ceremony, which can be a grueling experience in which the athletes spend hours on their feet. As a 15-year-old in Sydney, his handlers thought it best that he not participate even though he qualified in only one event for the 2000 Summer Games.
“He’s the greatest Olympian of all time, and it’s really great that USA Swimming gets to put him forward,’’ said swimmer Katie Ledecky. “He inspires everybody back home by what he does in the pool, and now he gets to hold the flag to lead us out there. He’s the best person to do that.’’
At the last three Olympics, Phelps skipped the ceremony to rest up for his first event, the 400-meter individual medley, which was held the next day.
With the 400 IM no longer part of his program, he was available to lead the team in Friday’s ceremony.
‘‘For Sydney, I just wanted to make the team,’’ said Phelps, who will compete in three individual events at Rio and could be a member of all three relay teams. “For Athens, I wanted to win gold for my country. For Beijing, I wanted to do something nobody else had done [breaking Mark Spitz’s record with eight gold medals]. In London, I wanted to make history.
‘‘And now,’’ he added, ‘‘I want to walk in the opening ceremony, take it all in, represent America in the best possible way and make my family proud.’’
The 31-year-old Phelps conceded he wasn’t at his best for the London Games and didn’t really want to be there. After taking a year-long break, he rediscovered his love of training and competing, sparking a desire to close his career the right way at his final Olympics.
After a series of missteps in his personal life, which included a second drunken-driving arrest in 2014, Phelps went through six weeks of inpatient therapy, gave up alcohol, reconnected with his estranged father, got engaged, and became a father for the first time with the birth of his son, Boomer.
‘‘This time around,’’ Phelps said, ‘‘it’s about so much more than medals.’’
US women blank New Zealand
Carli Lloyd and Alex Morgan scored a goal in each half as the US women’s soccer team defeated New Zealand, 2-0, in its debut at the Rio Games, getting off to a solid start in its attempt to win a fourth straight Olympic gold medal.
Lloyd put the Americans ahead with a header in the ninth minute and Morgan added a low shot less than a minute into the second half at the Mineirao Stadium in Belo Horizonte.
The US dominated from the start to earn the convincing victory and remain unbeaten in 2016, with 14 shutouts and only one draw in 16 games.
Near the end of the game, many of the nearly 10,000 fans at the stadium chanted ‘‘Zika, Zika’’ at goalkeeper Hope Solo, who before coming to the Olympics upset some Brazilians by tweeting a photo of herself wearing a hat with mosquito netting in a reference to the virus.
Lloyd opened the scoring after Tobin Heath beat a couple of defenders just outside the area before making a cross to the far post, where the U.S. captain outjumped a defender to head the ball into the other corner and score her seventh Olympic goal. Lloyd has scored in three straight Olympics, including in the finals both in 2008 in Beijing and 2012 in London.
It was the 89th goal in 225 appearances for the midfielder, who is the most-capped player at the Olympic tournament. She has 13 Olympic appearances, tied with Solo for the most on the team.
Morgan scored the second goal with a low shot by the near post after receiving a pass by Morgan Brian inside the area. It was Morgan’s 12th goal of the year, and fifth at Olympic tournaments.
The U.S. is trying to win its fifth gold medal since women’s soccer became an Olympic sport in 1996 in Atlanta. The only time it didn’t win the Olympics was in 2000 in Sydney, when it lost the final to Norway.
The Americans have a fresh team with 11 Olympic newcomers, although many who made it to Rio were in the World Cup-winning squad in Canada last year.
In addition to playing with a younger team, the U.S. arrived in Rio with some players recovering from injuries, including regular starter Megan Rapinoe, who was on the bench the entire match on Wednesday.
The U.S. announced earlier Wednesday that its first two friendlies after the Olympics will be against Thailand on Sept. 15 in Columbus, Ohio, and against the Netherlands on Sept. 18 in Atlanta at the Georgia Dome.
Tokyo Games to add five sports
The International Olympic Committee approved the addition of five sports to the program for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, including the return of baseball/softball for the first time in 12 years and the introduction of youth-oriented events such as skateboarding and surfing. The IOC also voted to accept karate and sport climbing.
Baseball was a full part of the Olympic program from 1992 to 2008, with softball joining in 1996. The IOC voted them both out in 2005.
The new sports will add 18 events and 474 athletes to the program. The Tokyo Games will feature 33 sports and about 11,000 athletes, compared with the usual number of 28 sports and 10,500 athletes.
‘‘This will help make the [Tokyo] Games one of the most innovative in our history,’’ said IOC vice president John Coates.
Baseball was a full part of the Olympic program from 1992 to 2008, with softball joining in 1996. The IOC voted them both out in 2005.
Baseball will have a six-team tournament in Tokyo, short of the eight-team format sought by officials from the sport’s international federation. Women’s softball will also have six teams.
Skateboarding will have street and park events, and feature 80 athletes (40 men and 40 women). In climbing, 40 competitors will take part in the disciplines of speed, bouldering, and lead (also known as sport). Karate will have 80 athletes competing in men’s and women’s Kumite and Kata events, while surfing will have two shortboard events for 40 competitors.
Organizers hope skateboarding will catch on with worldwide viewers as halfpipe in snowboarding did in the Winter Olympics.
‘‘There are more participants in skateboarding than most sports so I feel like [the Olympics] need our credibility and they need our excitement level in their Summer Games,’’ skateboarding icon Tony Hawk said recently.
US gymnast Hernandez turns pro
Rising gymnast Laurie Hernandez, 16, of Old Bridge, N.J., announced she is giving up her amateur status just days before helping Team USA vie for a second straight Olympic gold. Hernandez had verbally committed to the University of Florida before signing with Shade Global Inc. . . . Brazilian riot police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse protesters in the path of the Olympic torch relay north of Rio de Janeiro.
Scott Thurston of the Globe staff contributed to this report.
