Humphries and Moyse named Canada’s flag bearers for Olympic closing ceremony

WATCH: Humphries and Moyse discuss the honour and tell the funny story about how they were told they would carry Canada’s flag

Gold-medal bobsledders Kaillie Humphries and Heather Moyse have been named Canada’s flag bearers for the closing ceremony of the Sochi Winter Olympics.

Canada’s bobsleigh queens successfully defended their gold medal from Vancouver in Sochi, coming from behind to beat the Americans by 0.12 seconds.

“Wow. It’s truly an honour to represent what our Canadian athletes are all about,” Moyse said. “If we look back to the Canadian team’s performance back in Vancouver (in 2010) we can see that a new culture of winning has truly emerged.”

“The fight that Kaillie and I demonstrated here reflects the fight of all of our Canadian athletes. We are strong. We are winter. We have the strength of a nation behind us. We were raised on ice and in snow,” she said.

Humphries, 28, from Calgary, with brakeman Heather Moyse, 35, of Summerside, P.E.I., are the first women to defend an Olympic gold medal in bobsleigh.

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READ MORE: Canada vs Sweden: Gold medal game in men’s Olympic hockey tournament

Moyse returned from hip surgery just over a year ago in order to compete in Sochi. Together, the pair have won three World Cup races this season.

The Olympic champions said they are honoured to represent their country, fellow athletes and the Canadian Olympic Team.

“This has been such a great games for Canada and leading the team into the closing ceremony is the cherry on top of a fantastic couple of weeks. I am so honoured,” said Humphries.

A look back at Canadian closing ceremony flag-bearers

The Canadian Olympic Committee had a long list list of candidates to chose from including:  women’s and men’s curling champions Jennifer Jones and Brad Jacobs, moguls champion Alex Bilodeau, sisters Justine and Chloe Dufour-Lapointe the gold and silver medallists in women’s moguls, and fan favourite Calgary’s Gilmore Junio who gave up his spot in the 1,000-metre speed skating race to teammate Denny Morrison.

Moyse and Humphries mark the third time Canada has chosen two people to share the honour of carrying the flag.  Figure skaters Jamie Sale and David Pelletier were selected in 2002 at Salt Lake City, and rowers Marnie McBean and Kathleen Heddle in 1996 in Atlanta.

The closing ceremony begins at 11 a.m. ET Sunday.

*With files from the Canadian Press