Carrying the Canadian flag into the opening ceremonies of an Olympic Games is an incredible honour.
Just ask the 46 people who have done it since pole vaulter Ed Archibald became the first athlete to be given the task in 1908 in London, England.
On Tuesday, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir will be Canada’s flag-bearers for the Pyeongchang Games in South Korea on Feb. 9.
They are the perfect choice.
Virtue and Moir won ice dance gold at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and won the silver medal at the Sochi Games four years ago.
What makes their selection even more special is that the eight-time national champions and three-time world champions retired for two years before deciding that the 2018 Olympics would be their last.
And by having a man and a woman carry the flag into the opening ceremony is symbolic of what this country stands for.
I don’t have to spell it out for you. You know what I mean.
Being named the flag-bearer for the opening ceremony of an Olympic Games means that an athlete has accomplished something extraordinary on the world stage.
Waving the flag for the closing ceremonies is more of an MVP award for that particular Games. Take swimmer Penny Oleksiak, for example.
She was named Canada’s closing ceremony flag-bearer at Rio 2016, after becoming the first Canuck to win four medals in one Summer Olympics.
By carrying the flag into the Pyeongchang Games, Virtue and Moir are definitely going into South Korea in style and we’re all hoping they end their careers in style as well.
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