Flag Bearer

Last Friday, Clara Hughes was named Canada's Flag Bearer for the Opening Ceremonies at the Olympics. She is a terrific choice, and her story demonstrates the power of sport to change lives.



Her credentials are impressive: one of only a handful of athletes to win a medal in both Summer and Winter Olympic games (and the only one to win multiple medals in both).

Photo from fOTOGLIF

I had been aware of her as a two-time Bronze medalist in cycling from Atlanta (my first Olympics with NBC too), and as a Gold and Silver medalist in Speed Skating from the Torino games.

However, what I didn't know about her, was her incredible story of a troubled youth who was inspired by seeing Gaetan Boucher on TV at the 1988 Calgary Olympics, and who used that inspiration to turn her life around.

Clara has been a true Olympian away from competition as well, donating $10,000 of her personal savings to Right To Play after the Torino Olympic Games, and donating a lot of her time and energy to this organization as well. I will have more to say about Right to Play in a future blog post.

She also holds the International Olympic Committee's Sport and Community Award, and has twice received the Spirit of Sport honour from the Canadian Sports Awards. This will be Clara's 5th Olympic Games, and at age 37, she is still a contender in the 5000m event.

It makes me very proud to have her as our Flag Bearer. I would urge you to follow the links above to read more about Clara (her story, and what she has done for sport).