North Vancouver native Sonja Gaudet has been named the official flagbearer for Team Canada in the Sochi Paralympics.
Gaudet is "the world's most decorated wheelchair curler" according to her biography on the Canadian Paralympic Committee's website, taking home gold medals from the 2006 Paralympics in Turin, Italy and the 2010 Games in Vancouver.
The veteran curler is to lead 54 fellow Canadian athletes into the Fisht Olympic Stadium tonight for the opening ceremony of the 2014 Paralympics.
"It carries a lot of purpose for me," said Gaudet in a press release announcing the nomination on Wednesday.
Gaudet expressed on her personal Twitter account how honoured she felt to be chosen and proud to represent Canada.
"(The Paralympics) sends a big global message as well about looking past the wheelchair, looking past the visual impairment, looking past the missing limb and really focusing on the person and focusing on what's there."
Gaudet may not stay for the entire opening ceremonies, however, due to an early start for the first game on Saturday against Great Britain.
"We do have some strategies," said Gaudet in a press release. "Our priority is to be ready for Game 1. It's a big game for us and we're certainly going to make sure that we are (ready). (Carrying the flag is) just going to give us a little more purpose and create a really positive atmosphere to compete in."
Gaudet earned her nickname "The Brain" for her invention of the "balance post," a lightweight aluminium stick that is attached to her wheelchair and clamps directly to the stone to allow for greater accuracy.
John Sims, the Canadian Paralympic media attaché for wheelchair curling praised Gaudet in her roles as an athlete and as a role model.
"She is a true leader and loved greatly by athletes in all of the paralympic sports as witnessed by the hugs and smiles she got yesterday when we travelled to the athletes village," said Sims.
The 47-year-old, who now resides in Vernon with her husband and two children, sustained a spinal cord injury in her late 20s after falling off a horse. She was inspired to get into adaptive sports after talking to fellow Paralympian Rick Hansen about his own experiences overcoming injury.
Gaudet serves as an ambassador for the Rick Hansen Foundation as well as the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
