Patty Mills was the kid who sat down to watch the Olympic Games and then pretended to swim across the lounge room floor. At day's end he would hold a flag ceremony in the backyard.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Tokyo marks the fourth Olympic campaign for Cate Campbell and Emily Seebohm. Sam Stosur is bound for her fifth. Victorian grandmother Mary Hanna's equestrian tilt marks her sixth. Equestrian counterpart Andrew Hoy is set for his eighth at 62 years old.
But who will carry the flag for Australia at the opening ceremony of the Tokyo Games?
The Australian Olympic Committee will unveil its two flag bearers - one male and one female - on a video hook-up streamed online and on Channel Seven from 6pm on Wednesday night.
MORE SPORT
"We're creating that virtual team gathering because we can't all be together," Australian team chef de mission Ian Chesterman said.
"It's just an opportunity to create team cohesion and give the sense the team has come together, albeit virtually, and we're all heading off to Tokyo.
"It's going to be a pretty special time for everybody, because we'll come together after what has obviously been a very difficult time for everybody involved in sport and in this campaign."
Whoever leads from the front may be flanked by a small cohort of Australia's 472-strong squad.
"The difficulty with these Games is there are going to be even less people there for the opening ceremony because of that five-day rule, you can only arrive five days before you compete," Chesterman said.
Caden Helmers
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
Caden Helmers is a sports writer for The Canberra Times.
