[Cherry.]

I almost died of happiness when I first saw the news of her being the flag-bearer for Russia popped on my Twitter timeline.
Really hope she could do it. It's an honor of a lifetime.

[nelsondan]

Originally Posted by sickfalsetto

@nelsondan, there is already a thread about it on GM http://www.tennisforum.com/showthread.php?t=461617

Thanks....

I never run out of things to worry about....this story makes me wonder if Russian leaders need someone carrying the flag to counteract these "spoiled rich kids".


MOSCOW (AP) — A glamorous Russian TV host is paying an expensive price for becoming an unlikely face of the anti-Putin protest. When investigators raided her Moscow apartment, they confiscated $1.7 million she had stashed in envelopes.

A spokesman for the investigators, Vladimir Markin, said they found more than 1 million euros ($1.25 million) and $480,000 in cash during Monday's raid on Ksenia Sobchak's apartment — one of several raids on protest leaders' homes.

Markin said they will try to determine if Sobchak paid taxes on the money, and also look into what she planned to do with it, which was in more than 100 envelopes.

Sobchak, a socialite, TV presenter and restaurant owner, insists that she had done nothing wrong and was keeping her savings at home because she doesn't trust banks. She said on Twitter that her annual income exceeds $2 million.

"I never thought that we would slide back to such repressions," tweeted Sobchak, who is described by some as Russia's Paris Hilton equivalent.

While it's not uncommon for wealthy Russians to keep large amounts of cash at home, authorities are likely to use her wealth to illustrate their depiction of the opposition as a bunch of spoiled rich kids at odds with the majority of Russia's population.

[Reptilia]

I am so excited to see her do this!

[Qetusi]

Maria Sharapova

Ahh finally I can share some exciting news with you! After the third round of the French Open, I woke up to a pretty memorable message.
The Russian Olympic committee chose me to be the flag bearer at this years Olympic opening ceremony. I am so honored, and especially excited as it will be my first Olympics in my career.
I have had to keep this hush hush for two weeks and keeping secrets is not my best quality!

http://www.facebook.com/Sharapova

[Maria Croft]

That's so amazing for her

[Andy.]

OMG thats such amazing news

[Dieter.]

Great news.

[DeeHax]

Originally Posted by Qetusi

Maria Sharapova

Ahh finally I can share some exciting news with you! After the third round of the French Open, I woke up to a pretty memorable message.
The Russian Olympic committee chose me to be the flag bearer at this years Olympic opening ceremony. I am so honored, and especially excited as it will be my first Olympics in my career.
I have had to keep this hush hush for two weeks and keeping secrets is not my best quality!

http://www.facebook.com/Sharapova

Ohh, that´s so cool!! I´ve read this morning that it was not official yet, but coming from MS, it´s more than confirmed!!!

[domon17th]

So i assume it's true then? What sh*t was the sports minister talking about then? *mildly pissed but still happy*

[MashaFan01]

BTW - I dunno if this has been posted somewhere already - but I bumped into these hilarious clips on Youtube - Here are 3 out of many others and I hope you'll enjoy them as much as I did:

Link: Hitler is informed about Maria Sharapova's ridiculously easy French Open draw

Link: Hitler explains why he hates Maria Sharapova

Link: After Hitler finds out Maria Sharapova is the 2012 French Open champion

Funny!!!

[Cherry.]

http://www.tennishead.net/news/on-to...-to-be-russian

Sharapova: I'm so proud to be Russian

Maria Sharapova may sound like an all-American girl, but the world No.1 insists she is Russian to her roots

Maria Sharapova, who has lived in the United States for the last 18 years, said she felt great pride when the Russian national anthem was played after she had won the French Open title last weekend.

“Everyone knows my story of being born in Russia and moving to the United States at seven,” she said. “People didn’t criticise me but they would say: ‘She’s Russian but she’s living in the United States.’ When the flag [went up at Roland Garros] and I heard the national anthem, I was so proud to be a Russian. I’m so proud to represent my country.

“I never thought for a second that it would be otherwise, no matter how many people told me: ‘You’re not, you just have a passport.’ I couldn’t care less. I love where I’m from. I don’t live there because of the circumstances, but all my family is there, the culture and the feeling. It’s what’s inside, not what’s outside, that determines that.”

Sharapova, who is one of the favourites to carry the Russian flag at the Olympic Games opening ceremony, said she was grateful to her parents for giving her the chance to pursue her tennis education in the United States. Initially it meant she had to spend two years apart from her mother, who was unable to travel to America because of visa problems.

“My parents had a normal life in Russia and they could have easily kept living a normal life, working and raising a child in Russia,” Sharapova said. “I heard endless conversations between my parents when I was going to sleep, about how we would survive, how we would continue. And all of them were about trying to make me better.”

She added: “I was never afraid of not making it because I was OK with what I had and my family were OK with what they had. They were realistic enough to know that any day they would be going back to Russia or Belarus. For them it wasn’t a problem and neither for me.”

[FakeMashabator]

Yep, it's official then

so proud! such an incredible honor!

[Ksenia.]

So it was after 3rd round, I though they chose her after she won the whole thing
Great honor!

[lefty24]

Originally Posted by Ksenia.

So it was after 3rd round, I though they chose her after she won the whole thing
Great honor!

I actually really like that they chose her before she won.

[FakeMashabator]

Originally Posted by Ksenia.

So it was after 3rd round, I though they chose her after she won the whole thing
Great honor!

Originally Posted by lefty24

I actually really like that they chose her before she won.

Same here