‘…I’d be over the moon’

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This article was published 27/01/2010 (6030 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

VANCOUVER — Four years ago, veteran speedskater Clara Hughes declined a nomination to be Canada’s flag-bearer at the Turin Olympics.

She wasn’t alone. Several athletes turned down the honour because their events were scheduled in the early days of the Games.

The Canadian Olympic Committee will introduce the flag-bearer for the Vancouver Games on Friday in Richmond, B.C., and this time the 37-year-old Hughes is one of leading candidates. Her first event, the 3,000 meter, is on the Sunday following the Friday opening ceremonies.

The only Canadian athlete to win medals in both the summer and winter Olympics, the long-track speedskater is among the contenders to carry the flag into B.C. Place on Feb. 12.

Others include bobsled pilot Pierre Lueders, hockey player Hayley Wickenheiser, visually impaired cross-country skier Brian McKeever and skeleton racer Mellisa Hollingsworth.

"It would be amazing," said Hughes, who was nominated by Speed Skating Canada. "If it’s not me, it’s going to be an amazing athlete because I think there are a lot of athletes to choose from who can fill that role properly, and proudly, and bring that team into the stadium.

"But I’m not going to lie. If it was me, I’d be over the moon."

McKeever will be the first winter athlete to compete in both the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

"I’d like to be taken as just another one of the athletes," said the Canmore, Alta., native, who has less than 10 per cent vision because of Stargardt’s disease. "There’s so many athletes who are deserving of the flag-bearer position based on what they’ve achieved internationally.

Hockey player Danielle Goyette ended up carrying the flag for Canada in Turin but the rejections of other athletes prompted outspoken hockey broadcaster Don Cherry to say "they should be ashamed of themselves."

Catriona Le May Doan, Canada’s flag-bearer at the 2002 Salt Lake City Games, said she probably would not have accepted the role if she was skating the weekend after the opening ceremony.

"People have no idea how draining it is," said the two-time Olympic gold medallist. "It’s not the fact that physically you are tired, your system has been fatigued."

Moguls skier Jean-Luc Brassard created controversy at the 1998 Nagano Games when he blamed his fourth-place finish on carrying the flag in the opening ceremonies the day before.

Le May Doan understands why an athlete would decline being a flag-bearer. "Any athlete that says no to doing it, they don’t not want to have that experience, because it is an incredible experience. But they don’t want to sacrifice the work they have done and their performance on the Olympic stage."

Of the 19 Canadians named Winter Olympic flag-bearers since 1924, 10 went on to win gold while three won silver, one won bronze and five failed to reach the podium.

The selection of the flag-bearer begins with the different sports federations recommending candidates. A panel within the Canadian Olympic Committee comprising two athletes, a coach, the Games chef de mission and the two assistant chefs then reviews the names and makes the selection.

"We try as much as possible to have that decision made by the people closest to sports," said Chris Rudge, the COC’s chief executive officer. "It’s really dominated by athlete and coach input."

 

— The Canadian Press

Skaters dominate bearers

 

A look at Canada’s past flag-bearers at the Winter Olympics:

 

2006 Turin: Danielle Goyette, women’s hockey

2002 Salt Lake City: Catriona Le May Doan, speedskating

1998 Nagano: Jean-Luc Brassard, freestyle skiing

1994 Lillehammer: Kurt Browning, figure skating

1992 Albertville: Sylvie Daigle, speedskating

1988 Calgary: Brian Orser, figure skating

1984 Sarajevo: Gaetan Boucher, speedskating

1980 Lake Placid: Ken Read, skiing

1976 Innsbruck: Dave Irwin, skiing

1972 Sapporo: Karen Magnussen, figure skating

1968 Grenoble: Nancy Greene, skiing

1964 Innsbruck: Ralph Olin, speedskating

1960 Squaw Valley: Bob Paul, figure skating

1956 Cortina d’Ampezzo: Norris Bowden, figure skating

1952 Oslo: Gordon Audley, speedskating

1948 St. Moritz: Hubert Brooks, men’s hockey

1932 Lake Placid: Harold Joseph (Hack) Simpson, men’s hockey

1928 St. Moritz: John Porter, men’s hockey

1924 Chamonix: Ernie Collett, men’s hockey