Isabelle Weidemann will carry the Canadian flag at Beijing’s closing ceremony

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This article was published 19/02/2022 (1297 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BEIJING Isabelle Weidemann is Canada’s flag-bearer. The Ottawa speedskater won three medals at these Olympics, and the towering young woman will stand above her peers.

“I feel like I’m dreaming,” said Weidemann, who won gold in the women’s long-track team pursuit with Valérie Maltais and Ivanie Blondin, silver in the 5,000 metres, and bronze in the 3,000 metres. She is one of three Canadians to win a medal of every colour at a winter Olympics.

But on the last morning of these dystopian Games, Weidemann was thinking about others, beyond herself.

“I have a lot of teammates that came into these Games as first-time Olympians, and a teammate in particular that maybe didn’t skate the way that she felt like she had trained for, or that I think she deserves,” said Weidemann, speaking about Maddison Pearman, who finished 24th and 26th in her two events. “But sometimes we need a little bit of time away from the Games and from the performances to be able to reflect. It took me a while to find happiness and pride in the way that I competed in 2018 (when Weidemann finished fourth, sixth and seventh in three events). And you only get that from time away from the sport.

“But I have also so many teammates that have been sad with their performances but have shared in my joy, and it’s been so special to be able to celebrate with them — and for them to feel personally like they didn’t accomplish what they wanted to but to then stand with me and share in my success, that’s meant so much to me.”

Earlier in her career, Weidemann had great difficulty trusting people; these medals were a testament to how she had changed. There is a lesson there: We are better and more human when we depend on each other. Weidemann is the kind of person who volunteered in a hospital during the pandemic. She knows. This was a special moment, and not just for her.

“I think there’s been a lot of struggle on the team just to get here,” Weidemann said. “But I think you can really feel the gratitude just to be able to do what we love. And I think it’s given the team a lot of fire, too. Showing up to just get to do what we love every day is such an honour. To compete like that is really special. And I think the pandemic was very hard, and it continues to be so hard, and I think it’s just made us very grateful.”

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She will carry the flag for Canada. Well earned.

Bruce Arthur is a Toronto-based columnist for the Star. Follow him on Twitter: @bruce_arthur