Wheelchair basketball player, speed skater to be N.B. flag bearers at Canada Winter Games
A speed skater from Campbellton, N.B., and a wheelchair basketball player from Fredericton will be Team New Brunswick’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the 2023 Canada Winter Games in Charlottetown.
Team New Brunswick chef de mission Nicole Smith made the announcement Friday as athletes, coaches and managers travelled to Prince Edward Island’s capital city.
“Being so close to Prince Edward Island, these Canada Games are going to be extra special for our athletes, parents and friends,” said Smith in a news release.
“Our proximity also allows New Brunswick to assist these games by hosting alpine and freestyle skiing and snowboard events at Central Hainesville’s Crabbe Mountain.”
Courtney Charlong, 16, recently set two provincial speed skating records and won the Junior Short Track Canada Cup held in Richmond, B.C., last year.
Austin MacLellan, 21, competed in the wheelchair basketball Junior Worlds in Thailand last September and was invited to a Wheelchair Rugby National Team training camp in December 2022 and March 2023.
He was also a member of Team New Brunswick’s 2019 Canada Games wheelchair basketball team, which placed fourth.
Both Charlong and MacLellan will lead the New Brunswick delegation into Charlottetown’s Eastlink Centre, the site of the opening ceremony on Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
Over a dozen communities on P.E.I. will host more than 3,600 young athletes, coaches and managers from across the nation to compete in over 20 sports and 150 events during the games between Saturday and March 5.
“Over the next two weeks, communities from tip to tip will be buzzing with excitement as young people and their sporting families from across our great country make lasting memories of their time here in P.E.I.,” said P.E.I. Premier Dennis King in a Friday news release.
“The Canada Games stage is the dream so many young people have strived for over months and years, and it is a proud moment for our province to be part of their sporting journey. On behalf of all Island residents, we are incredibly proud of you.”
Events will also take place in New Brunswick at Crabbe Mountain, which will host ski and snowboard events. Meanwhile in Nova Scotia, Halifax’s Emera Oval will host speed skating.
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