RICE RECEIVES CLOSING CEREMONY HONOUR
BEIJING, CHINA, August 23: 2008 Australian Olympic Team chef de mission John Coates today announced that triple gold medallist Stephanie Rice will carry the Australian flag into tomorrow night's closing ceremony at the National Stadium.
It is a deserving honour for the 20-year-old who won the 200 and 400 metre individual medley double as well as the 4x200m freestyle relay - all in world records - at the National Aquatics Centre during the first week of the Games. DAVID LYALL AOC REPORTS...
The young starlet becomes the third swimmer in succession to carry Australia's national flag at a summer Olympic Games closing ceremony following Petria Thomas at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games and Ian Thorpe four years earlier in Sydney.
Rice is also the sixth swimmer overall to have the honour following the inaugural closing ceremony flag bearer Dawn Fraser (1964), Mike Wenden (1972), Kieren Perkins (1992), Thorpe and Thomas.
Mr Coates said Rice's achievements spoke for themselves, although it was a decision that required some consideration given the many other outstanding efforts by Australian athletes at these Games.
"I am very pleased to announce that I have invited, and she has accepted, Stephanie, to carry the flag for us in the closing ceremony," Coates said.
"It is in recognition of her sensational performance in winning two individual and one relay event in the first week and all of that is very, very important as far as encouragement and setting the mood goes for our team as a whole.
"It was a difficult decision because we've had a lot of wonderful performances in this team but on balance I think Stephanie stood out and she certainly got this team on the way to the successes that we've enjoyed."
The appointment shocked Rice who had not even considered herself to be in the running to lead the Australian contingent into the Bird's Nest for the Games' final celebration.
"John asked me to come and meet him one afternoon and I thought it was because I haven't met him while we've been away and then he said he'd like me to be the flag bearer," Rice said.
"I thought ‘oh my god' I never even saw that coming at all and I feel so honoured to be given this role and I'm really looking forward to it because I didn't get to go to the opening ceremony.
"I was always really looking forward to going to the closing [ceremony] but now even more so."
Rice said she hadn't come to terms with the magnitude of what she had achieved but hoped her performances and the honour she had now been afforded would motivate others to try and achieve.
"The results I did in the swimming pool still have not sunk in even though I've now had a week out of the water," Rice said.
"Being in Beijing and away from a lot of the media coverage that we have in Australia has probably been really good for me and I'll have a shock getting back into Australia.
"I am so happy with the performances I did in the pool and to be given the honour of having the flag in the closing ceremony is so huge for me and I never really considered it and to be given it as part of the girls team and especially for Australia is huge and I just hope I can inspire other people to get these results as well."
The ceremony begins at 1900 on tomorrow night (Day 16, August 24).