New Delhi, Feb. 4 -- Speedskater Erin Jackson already has made history, as the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics. Bobsledder Frank Del Duca is a sergeant in the Army, hailing from a family with deep Italian roots.

They might be the perfect pair to lead the U.S. into the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.

Jackson, 33, and Del Duca, 34, were selected by a group of their fellow Olympians as the U.S. flag bearers for Friday night's opening ceremony of the Milan Cortina Games. Jackson will become the eighth U.S. speedskater to carry the flag into an Olympics, the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee said, while Del Duca will be the first bobsledder to carry the flag into an opening in 70 years.

"Being chose...