RICHMOND, B.C. — Clara Hughes, an Olympic champion speedskater and humanitarian activist, has been named Canada’s flag-bearer for the Vancouver Winter Games.
She was introduced at a ceremony Friday that also included the official naming of Canada’s full team of 206 athletes for the Olympics.
The 37-year-old Winnipeg native who now makes her home in Glen Sutton, Que., is Canada’s second most decorated Olympian with five medals. She is the defending long-track champion in the 5,000 metres and a silver medallist in the team pursuit.
The opening ceremonies are Feb. 12.
“This is without a doubt the greatest honour of my sporting life,” said Hughes. “For 20 years I’ve had the privilege of representing Canada around the globe in the world of sports, first on my bike, and then on my blades. The experiences have shaped me into who I am today.
“I’ve learned what it truly means to be Canadian and in turn I’ve been inspired to make a difference in the world, however small it’s been.”
Hughes is the sixth Canadian speedskater to be an Olympic flag-bearer. She joins Catriona Le May Doan (2002), Sylvie Daigle (1992), Gaetan Boucher (1984), Ralph Olin (1964) and Gordon Audley (1952).
Hockey player Daniele Goyette carried the Maple Leaf at the opening ceremonies of the 2006 Turin Games.
“I am so honoured to lead this Canadian Olympic team,” Hughes said.
Hughes, who is also an elite cyclist, is the only Canadian athlete to win medals at both the Summer and Winter Games. She is also an Officer of the Order of Canada and received the International Olympic Committee’s sport community award.
“As an athlete she’s as good as it gets,” said Beckie Scott, the former Olympic champion cross-country skier. “I’m so proud and so happy for her that she’ll be carrying the flag, it’s really amazing.”
The Vancouver Games will be Hughes’ fifth Olympics. She won two bronze medals at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Games in cycling and also competed at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.
She qualified as a speedskater for the 2002 Winter Games in Salt Lake City and won bronze in the 5,000 metres.
“Really awesome that Clara’s the flag bearer!” teammate Christine Nesbitt wrote on her Twitter feed. “We believe that no athlete is more deserving of the honour of carrying Canada’s flag on home soil than Clara,” Jean R. Dupre, Speed Skating Canada’s director general, said in a release. “Clara has been a wonderful ambassador for our sport for the past 10 years, and it will be great to see her walk in front of her fellow Canadian Olympic team members in two weeks’ time.”
Hughes has gone full circle in her career.
She fell in love with speedskating as a teenager watching the 1988 Calgary Olympics. She skated for a year, then switched to cycling.
Away from the rink, Hughes does extensive work with Right to Play and speaks out on environmental issues.
“I want to stay connected to humanity and contribute to the human condition and try to make it a little better maybe,” Hughes said in a recent interview with The Canadian Press.
“That’s always been a goal of mine and I feel like as an athlete I have this incredible platform to try and make a difference for people.”
Hughes follows figure skater Brian Orser (1988 Calgary Olympics) and 800-metre runner Abby Hoffman (1976 Montreal Olympics) as a flag-bearer on home soil.
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.