For some of the Northwest athletes competing at the Winter Games, this will be the third or fourth time to experience the Opening Ceremonies.
But snowboarder Nate Holland of North Idaho says it never gets old.
"I'm going to go there and experience the Russian opening ceremonies and Team USA and try to feed off some of that energy," he says. "Get that Olympic vibe going within me and feed off of that for the duration of the time that I'm there."
Most of this region's Olympic athletes will march into the stadium in Sochi with Team USA. But if you're feeling local pride, you might also keep an eye on four other countries:
• The flag bearer for Peru is a cross country skier who now lives in Seattle
• The U.S. Virgin Islands will be represented by a Whitman College student who calls Sun Valley home
• Two athletes based in the Northwest are competing for Australia
• A snowboarder from White Salmon, Washington is now riding for host country Russia
The Opening Ceremonies for the 2014 Winter Olympics take place Friday.
Copyright 2014 Northwest News Network
