The man or women who'll carry the New Zealand flag in the Olympics opening ceremony will be announced this morning.

MORE: Who'll be New Zealand's flag bearer in Rio?

So far Great Britain has announced tennis player Andy Murray will hold theirs, for Australia it'll be track cyclist Anna Meares and the USA has announced swimmer Michael Phelps.

Multiple gold medal winning canoeist and 1988 New Zealand flag bearer Ian Ferguson said going to the Olympics is one thing, but leading your country in the ceremony is a whole new level of excitement.

"When you get the honour of actually being flag bearer as well, leading your team, it just blows that further out of your mind because it's almost worth the hard training just to be there."

Ferguson is offering the to-be-announced flag bearer some tips, warning that it's not quite as easy as it seems.

"Don't dawdle around and don't drop the flag, don't lower the flag, and if whoever it is is strong enough, hold it up with one hand and hold it high."

He said since 1976 he's only skipped being at the event once, but he'll be watching this one, from the comfort of his couch.