Flag for Sinclair? Wait and see
Christine Sinclair has already been Canada’s flagbearer once. She marched the flag into the opening ceremony at the Pan American Games last fall in Mexico, but as an online campaign continues into another day, she has been asked about carrying the maple leaf again, except this time onto the Olympic stage.
It would be a little different. “It’s a lot different,” Sinclair said with a smile on Friday.
Twitter has provided a thrust to the idea of Sinclair’s candidacy for the weekend ceremony, using the hashtag “# Sinclairfor-flagbearer” in messages. The idea has spread, passed along by accounts tied to British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, hockey star Hayley Wickenheiser and CBC Radio host Jian Ghomeshi.
“If it was to happen, it would be the hugest honour,” Sinclair said, a medal hanging from her neck. “But I’d want my teammates right there with me.”
Sinclair, 29, led the Canadian team to a bronze medal at the London Olympics, with a 1-0 win over France on Thursday. Sinclair led all Olympic tournament scorers with six goals, including three in a hard-fought semifinal loss to the United States.
There are several worthy candidates to carry the flag into the closing ceremony Sunday in London.
Diver Emilie Heymans contributed to Canada’s first medal win in London — a bronze, in the threemetre synchronized event — and has won a medal in four straight Games, an achievement no female diver has ever accomplished. This was likely her last trip to the Olympics, too.
As of Friday, Rosie Mac Lennan is the only athlete to hear O Canada on the medal podium, having won gold in the trampoline. Swimmers Brent Hayden (who won a bronze) and Ryan Cochrane (a silver) are also likely part of the discussion.
Triathlete Simon Whitfield carried the flag into the opening ceremony last month.
For all of the fire she shows during the game, Sinclair is famously reserved off the field, a star who is only now getting used to the spotlight.
“Used to it in the sense that it’s becoming more familiar, but I’m still not the most comfortable with it,” she said. “Where I’m at in my career, and the past that I’ve seen with this team, this is amazing.”