October 14/10 10:48 am - Team Canada Names Tara Whitten as Flagbearer

Posted by Editoress on 10/14/10
 

Commonwealth Games Canada (CGC) and Cycling Canada (Canadian Cycling Association) are proud to announce that cyclist and quadruple Games medallist, Tara Whitten, has been named Team Canada's Flag Bearer for the closing ceremony at the XIXth Commonwealth Games. The announcement was made today at Team Canada's Closing Press Conference at the Main Press Centre in Delhi, India.

Whitten had an outstanding performance at these Games, the only Canadian athlete to win four medals - a gold in the women's road time trial and three bronze medals in the 3,000m Individual Pursuit, the Points Race, and as a member of the Team Sprint squad.

"Tara's performance at these Games is nothing short of inspiring," said Team Canada Chef de Mission, Martha Deacon. "She showed tremendous versatility in performing at the highest level on both the velodrome track and in the road events and her pursuit of excellence embodies the level of commitment and perseverance that the rest of her Team Canada teammates displayed here in Delhi."

"When I came to the Games, I never expected that this would happen and they would end with me being the flag bearer. There are so many fantastic athletes here with great results. I am so honoured to do this for Canada," said Whitten.

Whitten is the second female cyclist from Edmonton to be named as Canadian Flag Bearer for the Commonwealth Games. The first was Lori-Ann Muenzer, who was the Closing Ceremony Flag Bearer at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, England. Muenzer went on to win an Olympic gold medal in match sprint at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens - the only Canadian cyclist ever to win an Olympic gold medal. (Note:  Tanya Dubnicoff carried the flag for closing in Victoria 1994. It was shared with Jeff Adams).

The Canadian team also named two "athletes of honour" - gold medallists Ohenewa Akuffo (wrestling) and Christine Girard (weightlifting) - who will march on either side of Whitten into the Closing Ceremony. The Delhi 2010 organizing committee invited each country to select athletes of honour whose performance and contribution to the team was deemed significant.

Canada finishes these Games with 75 medals, fourth in the overall medal count with 26 gold, 17 silver and 32 bronze medals. Australia finished first overall with 177 medals, England second with 142 medals and the host country India third with 101 medals, a significant increase over the 49 medals they won at the last Games in Melbourne, Australia. Canada won a total of 87 medals in Melbourne for third in the overall medal count.

"We came here with a goal to provide a high quality environment so athletes and coaches could do their job and perform exceptionally well. We did that", said Scott Stevenson, Director of Sport for CGC. He added: "In terms of overall medal count, we were right on target, hoping to achieve between 75 and 80 medals. We thought this kind of result would put us in third but we didn't anticipate India would double their Melbourne result. It's truly a testament to the value of hosting Games. Congratulations to India."

Commonwealth Games Canada press rlelease