The women's hockey star will carry the flag for Team Canada into the Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia next month. The announcement was made on Parliament Hill in Ottawa this morning, but Wickenheiser was in Europe and unable to attend in person.
"I'm so proud to be representing my team and the greater team of Canada's athletes, and all Canadians in Sochi to carry the flag," Wickenheiser told reporters via teleconference following the announcement. "I wish I could have been in person today in Ottawa to be a part of this, but I'm even happier that my family and friends were able to attend to take part in that."
Wickenheiser will be competing in her fifth Winter Olympics and sixth Olympics overall. She helped the women's hockey team win three consecutive gold medals in 2002, 2006 and 2010, and a silver in 1998. She also was on Canada's softball team at the 2000 Summer Games in Sydney, Australia.
"It's been 20 years now that I have been with the national team... and just to see how far the game has grown in the last 15 years on the Olympic stage, the development, ups and downs and growing pains of a relatively young, new sport," she said. "In all of that, I have gotten to have so many interesting experiences in my career, whether it's been playing internationally, playing men's professional hockey, playing in a Summer Olympics, and travelling all over the world for hockey. Really, everything that I have in some way, shape or form in my life I owe to sport and to hockey, and the evolution of women's hockey in the Olympic Games is just going to keep getting better and more interesting as we go forward in time, and I've seen that over a very short period of time in my career."
Wickenheiser will be the first hockey player to carry the Maple Leaf at the opening ceremonies since Danielle Goyette in the 2006 Torino Games, and she says she is looking forward to literally following in her former teammate's footsteps.
"I remember we were joking, 'Don't trip and fall when you come in!', and we were talking about it today... I better watch some YouTube videos and figure out how the athletes have actually done this before," she added. "To have [Goyette] do it and myself two Olympics later, I think it's a great sign of respect for women's hockey. She is a great athlete and the best player I've had a chance to play with as a linemate, and has been really good advice on what the next few days will be like as well."
Wickenheiser was also a big part of the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, where she read the oath on behalf of the athletes.
This is also a major highlight for her hometown of Shaunavon, who have a museum displaying Wickenheiser's accomplishments at the arena named in her honour, the Crescent Point Wickenheiser Centre, and many residents in the community and across southwest Saskatchewan have been joining Wickenheiser in celebrating this honour.
"I just think back to being a five-year-old kid walking to the rink with my hockey equipment and having a cheeseburger and fries after Saturday morning practices, and even going back to Shaunavon this past summer and visiting a lot of old friends," she added. "You don't really think about carrying the flag in the Olympic Games when you're just a kid growing up and having a dream to go to the Olympics, but I hope that everyone in Shaunavon and all of the kids that are in that community know that you can come from the middle of nowhere and still have a chance to do something good. I'm just proud to be from Saskatchewan and proud to be from Shaunavon and to represent that community."
The opening ceremonies of the 2014 Winter Olympics will be on February 7th, and Wickenheiser and Team Canada will play against Switzerland to open the women's hockey tournament the following day.
Tue, Apr 16, 1:00 AM
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