Who should carry the Canadian flag in the Beijing 2022 closing ceremony?
Taking a look at six possible candidates
The Canadian Olympic Committee will announce their flag bearer for the closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics early on Sunday morning Beijing time, or around 6:45 pm ET on Saturday night in Canada.
It’s expected that they’ll announce two flag bearers, as they did for the opening ceremony with Marie-Philip Poulin and Charles Hamelin, both of whom went on to win gold medals in Beijing. They also had two flag bearers for the Tokyo 2020 opening ceremony, selecting basketball player Miranda Ayim and rugby sevens player Nathan Hirayama to carry the flag into the Olympic Stadium.
There are plenty of strong contenders worthy of recognition and the privilege of carrying the flag, and here are six of them.
Isabelle Weidemann — Speed Skating
Weidemann has been Canada's biggest star at Beijing 2022. She won Canada's first medal of the Games with a bronze in the women's 3000m long track event, which was also significant as it was Canada's 200th total medal in Winter Olympic competition. Not finished there, she completed the set with a gold medal as part of Canada’s women’s team pursuit team. Skating alongside Ivanie Blondin and Valerie Maltais, the trio won Canada’s second gold medal of the Games, beating Japan in the final.
If Catriona Le May Doan, Canada’s Chef de Mission in Beijing, is picking the flag bearer solely based on sporting achievement in Beijing, she should look no further than her fellow long track star.
Max Parrot — Snowboarding
Already an Olympic silver medalist from Pyeongchang 2018 in men’s slopestyle, Max Parrot entered these Games looking to do one better. Picking up a huge score of 90.96, he won his first Olympic gold medal, beating Chinese teenage sensation Su Yiming and teammate Mark McMorris, who won bronze.
Parrot then followed it up with a bronze medal in the men’s big air event as well, again sharing the podium with now-gold medalist Su Yiming, earning Parrot his third Olympic medal.
Parrot beat cancer between the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, after being diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma in 2019 and going through a dozen rounds of chemotherapy. His story is an inspiring one, and he’ll leave Beijing as one of Canada’s top performers as well.
Sarah Nurse — Ice Hockey
Canada climbed back to the top of the podium in women’s hockey at Beijing, beating the United States and getting redemption after losing in a shootout four years ago to the same opponent. Canada dominated most of the matches they played, going undefeated to win their fifth Olympic gold in seven tournaments.
Sarah Nurse was Canada’s leading scorer, with 18 points in seven games, including the first of three Canadian goals in the final. Those 18 points also led the tournament in scoring, and she set several records in the process.
Steven Dubois — Short Track Speed Skating
Like Weidemann did in long track, short track speed skater Steven Dubois picked up a full set of medals in Beijing. After winning the first Olympic medal of his career, a silver in the men’s 1500m event, Dubois went on to add a bronze in the 500m a few days later. He completed his collection as part of Canada’s men’s 5000m relay team, winning gold in the final event of teammate Charles Hamelin’s legendary career.
He’s the sixth Canadian athlete ever (and fourth in the last six years) to accomplish the feat.
Cassie Sharpe — Freestyle Skiing
The reigning champion in women’s ski halfpipe, it was impressive that Cassie Sharpe even got to Beijing 2022. She fractured her femur in a crash almost exactly one year before the Games and required a reconstructive surgery, only returning to halfpipe competition in December 2021.
Not only did she get to Beijing, but she was up to her old tricks, winning the silver medal this time as one of just two skiers to score over 90 points. She did it twice with her second and third runs of the final, finishing with a score of 90.75, a few points back of Chinese superstar Eileen Gu, earning Sharpe her second Olympic medal.
Teammate Rachael Karker shared the podium with her, winning bronze.
Keegan Messing — Figure Skating
While Keegan Messing’s Olympics didn’t go to plan on the ice, he seems to be having a great time off of it. After positive COVID tests prevented him from skating at all in the team event, Messing finally arrived in China in time for the men's singles event. He finished 11th, his best Olympic result, and since his competition has ended, he's turned into one of Canada's biggest cheerleaders.
He's shown up at several events, waving a huge Canada flag to support his compatriots, so he's already been practicing. The closing ceremony is meant to be a celebration of countries coming together to compete in elite sports, and few have been more enthusiastic about sporting the maple leaf than Messing.
If I was making the decision: Isabelle Weidemann and Steven Dubois.
Thank you for reading this post on True North. To be the first person to read future posts, subscribe for free using the button below, or share the article with someone you know.