Basketball player from Fergus, Ont. will carry Canadian flag at Paralympic Games

Patrick Anderson, a wheelchair basketball athlete from Fergus, Ont., will be carrying the Canadian flag at opening ceremonies of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.

Swimmer Katarina Roxon of Kippens, Newfoundland will be his fellow flag-bearer.

“This is a big honour,” Anderson said in a media release Tuesday. “This is a special country and an opportunity to represent wheelchair basketball in front of the world and the entire Canadian Paralympic Team. It was very much a surprise. I’ve been chosen, and I will step up. It’s going to be really cool.” 

This will be Anderson’s sixth time competing in the Paralympic Games. The 45-year-old won gold in 2000, 2004 and 2012 with Canada’s men’s wheelchair basketball team. In 2008, they took home the silver medal.

Opening ceremonies of the Paralympic Games will be held on Aug. 28.

Anderson and Canada’s wheelchair basketball team will play Germany in a preliminary round on Aug. 30.