The most successful Canadian athlete at the Olympics will join Canada’s first-ever hammer throw gold medallist as the country’s flag-bearers at Sunday’s closing ceremony.
Teen swim sensation Summer McIntosh and hammer throw champion Ethan Katzberg will carry the flag, the Canadian Olympic Committee announced Sunday.
McIntosh, 17, won three gold medals and one silver during the first week of Paris 2024, becoming the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympics.
The Toronto native flew home last week but said she’d be happy to return to Paris if chosen as a flag-bearer. She received the request while at her family’s cottage in Muskoka, Ont.
“There’s been so many incredible performances at the Games, and for me to be chosen as flag bearer is pretty incredible,” McIntosh said in a Team Canada news release. “I’m truly honoured to hold the flag for Canada.”
McIntosh is expected to be a strong contender to bring home more medals at Los Angeles 2028.
Meanwhile, Katzberg, 22, became the youngest Summer Games hammer throw champ in history with a throw of 84.12 metres — just shy of the Olympic record of 84.80 metres, set by Russia’s Sergey Litvinov in 1988.
A native of Nanaimo, B.C., Katzberg captured the first gold by a Canadian male at Paris 2024.
The medal also marked Canada’s first Olympic gold in a throwing event since 1904, when Etienne Desmarteau won the 56-pound weight throw in St. Louis.
His historical feat was matched two days later by fellow Canadian Camryn Rogers, who won the women’s hammer throw.
Katzberg had also already left Paris, travelling to Slovakia to continue his training.
“The support over the past week has been absolutely incredible,” said Katzberg in the same Team Canada release. “Not even this past week — people have been supporting me and rooting me on for a really long time now. To be able to have such an amazing Olympic experience has been incredible and to bring it home in the closing ceremony and wave that flag high and proud is truly an honour.”
Andre De Grasse and Maude Charron served as the flag-bearers for the opening ceremony.
Canada has won 27 medals in Paris, a national record for a non-boycotted Summer Games.
The closing ceremony starts at 2:15 p.m. ET / 11:15 a.m. PT.
