Simon Whitfield, Canada’s flag bearer for the London 2012 Olympic Games, crashed early in the cycling portion of his triathlon and failed to finish the race.
Some people might say he has succumbed to the “Curse of the Flag Bearer” – a legend where an athlete, in exchange for the honour of carrying the country’s flag, rarely performs well in his or her event. Perhaps they cave under pressure, perhaps expectations are set too high, but the flag bearer never goes home with a medal… or so the story goes.
But is the Curse of the Flag Bearer real? The numbers suggest otherwise.
Canada’s flag bearer in the Vancouver Winter Games, Clara Hughes, took home a bronze in her speed skating event. It might not have been as much as she had hoped for, but any medal finish is pretty impressive.
Adam van Koeverden was the flag bearer in the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Despite an eighth place finish in the K-1 1,000 metres, he managed to take home a silver in the K-1 500 metres.
Hockey player Danielle Goyette, who carried the flag in Turin in 2006, won gold with her team. And although judoka Nicholas Gill, flag bearer in Athens in 2004, was eliminated from his competition without a medal, speed skater Catriona Le May Doan won gold after carrying the flag in Salt Lake City in 2002.
The table below shows Canada’s flag bearers at the Summer Olympics, and how they performed.
Their performance has actually gotten better over the years. However, in a lot of early Summer Games, Canada won only five medals or less per Olympics altogether, which would certainly cut down on the medal hopes of any flag bearer.
In recent Olympics, the flag bearer earned a medal about half the time.
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