Sophie Pascoe Proudly Representing New Zealand as Commonwealth Games Flag Bearer

Photo Courtesy: Twitter, @nzolympics

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The New Zealand Olympic Team introduced their flag bearer for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, Sophie Pascoe, at a banquet and on their social media outlets on April 3:

Pascoe will represent New Zealand’s largest Commonwealth Games team in history. The honor fits well for one of the country’s most decorated athletes of all time.

Pascoe is a perfect two-for-two at the Commonwealth Games earning golds in the SB9 100 Breaststroke and SB10 200 IM in Glasgow four years ago. She will be looking to defend her titles after winning three golds and two silvers at the 2016 Rio Paralympic Games.

But these five medals are just one third of her collective Paralympic hardware as she earned ten more between London and Beijing. And on top of this, she has earned 23 World Para Championships medals as well. And this does not include her World Record haul from the 2017 New Zealand Short Course Championships.

But for Pascoe, earning the honor of carrying her nation’s flag means much more than medals:

“It’s humbling to have been chosen out of the many world champion athletes we’ve created in New Zealand,” Pascoe said. “I wasn’t considered as a Paralympic athlete, I was considered as one of the athletes of the New Zealand team. It’ll be a moment to remember forever.”

New Zealand chef de mission Rob Waddell added, “What this athlete does transcends sport and touches the hearts and emotions of every New Zealander. She is an inspiration.”

She also expressed her excitement on her personal Instagram page:

Proud to be leading out our biggest ever NZ Commonwealth games team tomorrow night, at the opening ceremony! ?? #earnthefern #nzpride #flagbearer #gc2018 #commonwealthgames

A post shared by Sophie Pascoe (@sophpascoe1) on Apr 3, 2018 at 1:37am PDT

The 2018 Commonwealth Games and Para Games will take place from April 4-15 in Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia.

The New Zealand Herald contributed to this report.

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6 years ago

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