[ad_1]
Canada will showcase velocity and power on the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics.
Six-time medallist sprinter Andre De Grasse and champion weightlifter Maude Charron will carry the Canadian flag throughout Friday’s parade down the Seine, the Canadian Olympic Committee introduced on Wednesday.
Dwell protection of the distinctive opening ceremony might be obtainable on CBC-TV, CBCSports.ca and CBC Gem starting at 1 p.m. ET.
In an Olympic first, every of the 91 nations will transfer alongside a six-kilometre route by way of the Seine on boats, relatively than the standard parade into the Olympic Stadium. The flotilla will finish on the Trocadèro the place the Olympic cauldron might be lit to suggest the beginning of the Video games.
Greater than 300,000 spectators are anticipated to attend the occasion, and so they’ll all see De Grasse and Charron on the entrance of the Canadian contingent.
“It is the right combo, is not it? Like power and velocity collectively to characterize the staff, it is good,” Charron stated in an interview with CBC Sports activities’ Scott Russell. “[I’m] clearly tremendous honoured to do this with [De Grasse].”
‘Speechless’
De Grasse, 29, is getting into his third Olympics having already collected six medals — together with the 200-metre gold at Tokyo 2020.
The Markham, Ont., native is thought for his steeliness beneath strain, reaching the rostrum each time he is competed in an Olympic occasion along with accumulating 5 world-championship medals.
However he stated the decision asking him to hold Canada’s flag left him “speechless.”
A part of De Grasse’s shock needed to do with the truth that track-and-field competitors does not begin till the second week of the Olympics. If he reaches the ultimate in every of his three occasions, De Grasse will race for medals within the 100m on Aug. 4, the 200m on Aug. 8 and the 4x100m relay on Aug. 9.
De Grasse even needed to triple-check that he actually was the selection.
“After I acquired the information that they requested me to be part of it, I used to be like, are you certain? They usually’re like, no, no, you are able to do this,” he stated.
“This can be a once-in-a-lifetime factor. For me, it is undoubtedly a dream come true to not simply be capable to go to the opening ceremony, however to bear the flag for Crew Canada. So I am actually simply soaking all of it in.”
WATCH | De Grasse on honour to be named flag-bearer:
CBC Sports activities’ Scott Russell speaks with the six-time Olympic medallist about receiving the honour alongside weightlifter Maude Charron.
New problem for Charron
Like De Grasse, the 31-year-old Charron additionally will not compete till the second week of the Olympics.
“I did not even assume that I used to be allowed to do the opening ceremony as a result of I used to be in week two,” Charron stated. “And now I am doing it and I am not simply doing it, I am main it. It is simply loopy. It is insane.”
However when Charron takes centre stage, she will not be defending her Olympic title. She received gold within the 64-kilogram weight class in Tokyo, which has since been eradicated as a self-discipline.
As an alternative, the Rimouski, Que., native now competes within the 59kg class alongside two different Olympic champions. The occasion takes place Aug. 8.
WATCH | Charron: ‘Paris, it is like my dream’:
CBC Sports activities’ Scott Russell speaks with the olympic champion, about receiving the honour alongside weightlifter Maude Charron.
Nonetheless, Charron has acquitted herself nicely, together with profitable a World Cup bronze in March when she lifted the identical quantity of weight as she did when she was greater than 4 kilograms heavier in Tokyo.
“I really feel like that is my body weight class now and I belong there and I am as sturdy as I used to be earlier than,” she stated.
Crew Canada is coming off its finest exhibiting at a non-boycotted Summer season Video games, having received 24 medals (seven gold, seven silver, 10 bronze) at Tokyo 2020.
Paris guarantees to be a really completely different Video games, although, as household and followers alike return to observe the reside motion within the venues after being sidelined as a result of pandemic in Tokyo.
“Paris, it is like my dream. With every part that occurred in Tokyo, I do not remorse something. I had the right end result. I had the gold medal. However Paris, I am aiming simply to have my good expertise,” Charron stated.
An expertise that’ll begin side-by-side with De Grasse, with a Canadian flag of their palms.
[ad_2]
Source link
