The U.S. selects Elana Meyers Taylor as a flag bearer and then has to replace her.

The United States picked two flag bearers for the opening ceremony on Friday, and then immediately replaced one of them.

The curler John Shuster and the bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor had been chosen to carry the U.S. flag through Beijing National Stadium, known as the Bird’s Nest, where the opening ceremony will take place on Friday night. The parade of nations, or the processional of every participating delegation into the stadium before the Olympic torch is lit, is considered the backbone of the opening ceremony, which officially kicks off the Games.

But Meyers Taylor, a three-time Olympic medalist and one of the most decorated American bobsledders, will not take part. She was replaced by an alternate, the speedskater Brittany Bowe, after revealing on Tuesday that she had tested positive for the coronavirus shortly after arriving in Beijing.

Meyers Taylor is currently asymptomatic but is unable to attend the ceremony. She may still get to compete, however; her first event will not take place until Feb. 13. She is currently in isolation, but will be released — and cleared to compete — once she produces two negative test results.

Bowe, a three-time Olympian chosen as an alternate by a vote among her teammates, was selected to step in for Meyers Taylor. According to the American team, Bowe was the first runner-up in the election.

Meyers Taylor delivered the news to Bowe by phone.

“I can’t think of a better honor, other than walking by myself, than having the opportunity to give to Brittany,” Taylor said in an interview with the “Today” show. “Brittany is an absolutely amazing human being.”

Bowe told “Today” that it was a “privilege,” and that she was “for once, completely at a loss of words.”

“I’m extremely grateful for the opportunity to lead Team U.S.A. into the opening ceremony,” Bowe said in a statement on the team’s website. “Taking on this responsibility is the honor of a lifetime, and I will proudly carry the American flag on behalf of Elana, her family and all of Team U.S.A.”

The Beijing Games are the second time that nations were asked to select two flag bearers. The International Olympic Committee encourages each participating country to nominate one man and one woman to be flag bearers in the opening ceremony as part of its efforts to promote greater gender equity at the Games.

Meyers Taylor would have been the first bobsled athlete since 1956 to be a flag bearer, the U.S. team said. Shuster is the first curler to carry the flag in the opening ceremony.