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With the Paris Summer Games now less than 100 days away, it’s a good time to dip back into our Olympic mailbag. Thanks again to everyone who has submitted their questions about the Summer Olympics.
There’s still time to get yours answered. Remember, no question is too big, too small or too weird! Send them to [email protected] and I’ll continue to answer the best ones as the Games approach.
Today’s question is from Rachel, who asks: Who do you think will be Canada’s flag-bearer(s) for the opening ceremony?
In real life, this is a tricky decision because of the myriad factors at play. Scheduling, for instance, is a major headache. Swimmers never get picked anymore because many of them compete the morning after the ceremony. Track and field athletes have the opposite problem: their events are later in the Games, so many of them might not even be in Paris yet. The women’s soccer team’s opening match takes place the night before in Saint-Etienne, which is hundreds of kilometres away.
Then there’s the cold reality that many athletes simply don’t want to do it. The superstition of a Canadian flag-bearer “curse” has faded over the past couple of decades, but it was downright terrifying to some in the 1990s and early 2000s after high-profile athletes like decathlete Mike Smith, figure skater Kurt Browning and skier Jean-Luc Brassard missed the podium altogether after carrying the maple leaf.
For many, it’s better to just avoid the pressure and the hassles. And those could be more daunting this time as the Paris opening ceremony features an ambitious athletes’ parade of more than 80 boats on the iconic Seine river, with hundreds of thousands of fans expected to attend the four-hour open-air show.
For the purposes of today’s exercise, though, let’s pretend that scheduling isn’t a factor and that every athlete on the Canadian team is willing to accept the honour. Let’s also assume Canada will continue to follow the International Olympic Committee’s suggestion, first introduced in 2021, to select both a man and a woman to share the role. Personally, I’d also like the flag-bearers to be familiar to a lot of Canadians and have a chance to win at least one medal at these Games. Extra credit to those who already own one.
With those criteria in mind, here are two women and two men — each from a different sport — who would make excellent Canadian flag-bearers for the opening ceremony on July 26 in Paris:
Maggie Mac Neil (swimming): Yes, Summer McIntosh will likely be Canada’s biggest star of the Games. But the teenage swimming phenom has yet to win an Olympic medal. So it might be best to save her for the closing ceremony, when she’ll probably be carrying several of them. For the opening, I’ll go with Mac Neil. Canada’s only reigning Olympic swimming champion (women’s 100m butterfly) also won a pair of relay medals in Tokyo and is a former world champ in her signature event.
Jessie Fleming (soccer): For most Canadians, the women’s soccer team’s gold-medal shootout victory over Sweden was the most thrilling moment of the 2021 Tokyo Games. It wouldn’t have happened without Fleming. The fearless midfielder’s late second-half penalty kick sent Canada to a monumental 1-0 upset of the United States in the semifinals before she forced extra time in the gold-medal match with another clutch penalty. Fleming also buried her shootout attempts in the quarterfinals against Brazil and the final against the Swedes. To boot, she’s now the team captain after the retirement of Christine Sinclair.
Andre De Grasse (track and field): Speaking of clutch athletes, here’s De Grasse’s Olympic track record: six career starts, six medals — highlighted by a 200m gold in Tokyo. And yet, Canada’s most decorated track star has never carried the flag at an Olympic opening or closing ceremony. De Grasse turns 30 later this year and is no lock to add another medal in Paris, so it might be a good idea to celebrate him before the Games begin.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (basketball): The 25-year-old guard was just named one of three finalists for the NBA MVP award after placing third in the league in scoring and leading the Oklahoma City Thunder to the top spot in the Western Conference. SGA won’t win the MVP (Denver’s Nikola Jokic is pretty much a lock for his third in four seasons) but he could lead Canada to its first Olympic basketball medal in 88 years. Last summer, Gilgeous-Alexander lifted the Canadian men’s team to its first-ever medal at the Basketball World Cup (formerly the world championships) and its first Olympic berth since 2000.
Some honourable mentions:
Canada’s only other reigning Olympic track and field champion besides De Grasse is decathlon star Damian Warner, but he carried the flag at the Tokyo closing ceremony. That doesn’t necessarily disqualify an athlete from doing it again, but the tendency is to give someone else a chance. If we’re going in that direction with a track and field star, how about one of Canada’s four gold medallists from last year’s world championships: decathlete Pierce LePage, 800m runner Marco Arop and hammer throwers Ethan Katzberg and Camryn Rogers.
The women’s eight rowing team’s surprising gold-medal victory in Tokyo was one of the best moments of those Games, and it looks like at least some members of the crew will be back for Paris. They’d be naturals for the boat-based opening ceremony, but it might be hard to pick just one of them.
Looking to go off the board with a really fresh pick? How about Philip Kim — aka B-Boy Phil Wizard. The 2022 world champion is among the favourites to win gold in the brand-new Olympic sport of breaking.
Did I miss someone? Who’s your pick for Canadian flag-bearer? Let me know by emailing [email protected].