Dame Flora Duffy is not the only Bermuda athlete at the Paris Games to have been to more than one Olympics.

Rower Dara Alizadeh is following up his appearance at Tokyo but he is enjoying the experience just that little bit more with none of the restrictions in place that were in existence during the Covid Games in Japan in 2021.

This time around, Alizadeh can enjoy an Olympic Village that has no mask mandate in place and he is grasping the opportunity to mingle more freely with his fellow Olympians.

“In Tokyo it was a very different Games but it was also my first so I didn’t really know any better,” Alizadeh said.

“Obviously, this time everybody doesn’t have to wear masks around and there are no plastic dividers at the lunch tables, but even with the restrictions in Tokyo, people were still friendly and interacting with each other as much as they could.

“But here, you see everybody walking around in their country kit and their colours, which makes it really special. Everybody is very friendly and everybody is in a good mood and it’s still the exciting phase as the Games haven’t started. It’s high spirits and really, really fun.

“Even though I’ve been here before it’s as exciting as the first time. The only difference is expectations-wise in that you at least have an idea of how things are, but it’s very exciting and you get very giddy getting up to it and the experience within the Village and seeing everybody around is still very special and exciting. I can’t wait to get started.”

Alizadeh does not have long to wait to “get started” as he is the first Team Bermuda representative to compete, with the Men’s Singles Sculls competition starting at 9am Paris time (3am Bermuda time) on Saturday.

That comes just hours after what is set to be a spectacular opening ceremony on the Seine and the 30-year-old thought long and hard about missing it in order to remain fresh for his opening row.

“It’s definitely something I have thought about but I will be attending the opening ceremony,” Alizadeh said.

“It’s a big part of the experience here and taking part in it is something I really wanted to do. There is a bus leaving early after the first part of the ceremony, so anybody who needs to leave early can do that as it can go quite late into the night.

“I’ve also got myself this walking stick with a seat built into it so any time we’re standing around I’ll just pop myself into the seat because I’d prefer to be off my feet as much as I can. It’s something I’ve tried to mitigate against but I really want to take part in it.”

Alizadeh also knows exactly how Jah-Nhai Perinchief and Adriana Penruddocke are feeling as he carried the Bermuda flag into the stadium in Tokyo three years ago and he hopes his two team-mates will remember to take in the atmosphere.

“It doesn’t really get much better than that and it is an incredible honour,” he said.

“In all these events, everybody has come through individual journeys to get here but the chance to be a flag-bearer and be the face of your country at the Games is a terrific honour.

“It’s what every Olympian probably dreams of; every sportsman dreams of being an Olympian but when you become one you dream about carrying the flag.

“I’m really excited for Jah-Nhai and Adriana and I hope they make the most of it and take in every moment, take a look around and breathe it all in.”

Alizadeh finished eighteenth in Tokyo but feels he is heading into this regatta in far better form after making his first A/B semi-final at the World Cup in Poznan in June.

“Poznan was a treat,” Alizadeh said.

“That was my first A/B semi-final so having that just before going into the Olympics is an encouraging feat and it gives me confidence going into these Games that the rowing is going well, the times are good and that makes me excited to get started.

“I have a rough idea of where I’d like to finish, but that’s for me to know. I want to come away from the regatta really pleased with how I rowed and how I executed my game plan. I know what I need to do in the heat and from there you go down forks in the road and take each race as it comes because there are a lot of variables. If I can do that, that’s when I know things tend to go quite well.”

Alizadeh has competed in some of rowing’s biggest events, winning a silver medal as part of an eight-man US crew at the under-23 World Championships in 2015 and playing a crucial role for Cambridge University as they won back-to-back Varsity Boat Races in 2018 and 2019, but he is keen to point out just how tough Olympic competition is.

“The Olympics is the pinnacle of our sport and while I was very proud of winning the silver in 2015, this is just a different ball game,” he said.

“It’s a pretty big divide between the under-23s and the Olympics. The Boat Race was very special and one of the highlights of my rowing career and while it is huge in the rowing world and the UK, beyond that it’s not well known, whereas the Olympics everyone can appreciate it as a huge deal.

“The standard here is just so high and the quality of the rowing is what makes it the most special of all the things I’ve been lucky enough to do. It’s been a pretty good run with some nice highlights but the Olympics have been the peak.”

It’s been five years since Alizadeh made the switch from team to individual competition in 2019 and he admits to still finding the transition tough.

“It is a different discipline so while it’s still rowing, how you approach it, how you apply pressure and how you technically do everything is very different, so it was a huge learning curve and quite humbling initially,” Alizadeh said.

“I was able to overcome that but the bigger challenge, which is an ongoing one, is that you are on your own out there. I know sports for everyone has an individual element and mentally you have to figure it out as nobody can do it for you, but when you are on a team you can get support from your team-mates and there is added motivation.

“I have to organise my own coaching, training plan, where I’m going to be, my boat, my equipment, travel, which competitions I go to and I get some support from Bermuda, which I really appreciate, but you have to do things yourself.

“You get a lot of autonomy and it’s the only event in rowing that is just you, so when things go well it’s all you and when things go poorly it’s all you. In this world you are very much a lone wolf.”