From what I can see... in 2002 people asked "Where's your flag Chris?", so he carried one at Athens in 2004... and he did a lot of weight training to counteract the extra wind resistance that the flag would have during the race... then in the 2008 Manchester... he decided to wear the flag instead with a union jack skinsuit, which was much less cumbersome and more aero. Then in the last one he gets the girl, which is how all good hero movies should end.