Five men and women will represent Bosnia in Sochi, the Olympic Committee said, adding that skier Zana Novakovic will have the honour of carrying the flag at the traditional parade.

Five competitors will represent Bosnia and Herzegovina at the Sochi Winter Olympic Games starting on February 7, the Bosnian Olympic Committee said.

Igor Laikert, Marko Rudic and Zana Novakovic will compete in Apline Skiing while Mladen Plakalovic will compete in cross-country skiing and Tanja Karisik in biathlon and cross-country skiing.

Novakovic has been assigned the honour of carrying the state flag in the parade marking the opening of the winter games – solving an alleged row over who would get the honour.

She has carried the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovinia before, at the opening of Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada, four years ago.

The Olympic Committee denied media reports of disagreements between members from Republika Srpska and the Federation entity about who would carry the state flag.

“There were no disputes, we chose a sportsperson who was the best ranked on world lists, which is the criteria we have followed for eight years,” a member of the committee insisted. “At the closing of Olympics, the person who achieves the best results in Sochi will get to carry the flag.”/balkaninsight/