Team Canada reveals flag bearers for Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics

Team Canada has revealed the flag bearers for the opening ceremony at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Short track speed skater Charles Hamelin and the captain of the women’s hockey team, Marie-Philip Poulin, will carry the maple leaf into Friday’s ceremony.

The duo was announced during a virtual news conference on Wednesday.

Poulin, 30, won gold for Canada at Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014.

In her Olympic debut, she was the lone goal scorer in a 2-0 shutout victory over the United States in the final.

Four years later, she tied the game with just 55 seconds to play in the third period and then added the overtime winner. She also scored the overtime winner against the United States at the 2021 IIHF Women’s World Championship.

“Being named flag bearer, I feel like I need to pinch myself,” said Poulin in a statement. “When you watch the Opening Ceremony, you see the smile and the pride in the people holding the flag. It’s hard to put into words but to now be the one with the smile on my face, it is truly an honour.”

This will be Hamelin’s fifth appearance at the Olympic Winter Games. He has competed in more Olympic Games than any other athlete representing Canada at Beijing 2022.

“Since the first time I wore the maple leaf, I felt that feeling of family right away. Going into my fifth Olympic Games, it is really incredible. For me, that family is one of the biggest reasons why I’m still here and why I love what I do,” said Hamelin in a statement. “Every time I would walk into an Opening Ceremony, I would look at the flag bearer as a role model. To be named flag bearer is something I can now check off my to do list.”

Hamelin has won five Olympic medals.

This will be the second straight Winter Games that Canada has had dual flag bearers, after ice dancers Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir carried the maple leaf at PyeongChang 2018.