Australian Paralympic Team captain Sean Pollard says he will reflect on his team\u2019s outstanding campaign on and off the snow when he carries the Australian flag at the Closing Ceremony of the Milano Cortina Paralympic Winter Games.<\/p>\n
Para snowboarder Pollard and dual Summer-Winter Paralympian Lauren Parker were named flag bearers for the Ceremony, which will take place in Cortina on Monday morning AEDT.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we can hold our heads high,\u201d Pollard said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe team\u2019s put forward their best performances, we\u2019ve tried our best, we\u2019ve represented Australia well on and off the field. Everyone loves the Australians here, so I think we can hold our heads high in pride.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pollard, who returned to Paralympic competition after competing at PyeongChang 2018, said Chef de Mission Ben Troy broke the news to him in a quiet one-on-one meeting.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said I had led the team well and he wanted to see me close the Games out. [Being team captain] didn\u2019t put pressure on me, but it made me really want to put my best foot forward and lead from the front, and I feel like I\u2019ve done that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Pollard paid respect to his flag bearer partner, Parker, whom he described as \u201camazing\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo make the crossover like she has \u2013 and she\u2019s done quite well in her events, as well \u2013 she\u2019s obviously an incredible athlete and it\u2019s an honour to share it with her,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Speaking after her final event of the Games, the 20km cross-country sitting, in which she finished 10th \u2013 her fourth top 10 finish in six events at her first Winter Paralympics \u2013 Parker said being named flag bearer was \u201cgood recognition for cross-country skiing and biathlon.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope that by me participating in these Winter Games it brings awareness to these sports and more people get involved,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy arms are pretty tried, but I have one more event to go and that\u2019s being flag bearer, and I\u2019ll always have some strength in my arms for that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parker won two gold medals and a silver medal at the Paris 2024 Summer Games, in triathlon and cycling, and was named one of the Closing Ceremony flag bearers there.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember the feeling when I was asked at Paris \u2026 and it\u2019s such a proud moment when you get asked to represent your country and walk out into the stadium at the Closing Ceremony,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Troy, the Chef de Mission, said both athletes thoroughly deserved the honour.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t be any prouder of Sean and Lauren,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cBoth of them have led through their actions, setting a standard that all our athletes and team members have followed.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis Australian team has conducted itself professionally and respectfully, as well as with a bit of Aussie humour that we all appreciate.<\/p>\n
\u201cI hope everyone who has contributed to Australia\u2019s campaign, here and at home, enjoys seeing Sean and Lauren carry the flag at the Closing Ceremony and feels great pride in what our team has achieved here at the Paralympic Games.\u201d<\/p>\n
David Sygall, Paralympics Australia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Australian Paralympic Team captain Sean Pollard says he will reflect on his team\u2019s outstanding campaign on and off…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543055,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-543054","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543054","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}