Tokyo Olympics 2021: Patty Mills, Cate Campbell named Australian flagbearers

Basketball star Patty Mills has delivered an emotional speech on what becoming the first Indigenous Australian to carry the nation’s flag at an Olympiad means to him.

More than two decades after Cathy Freeman draped herself in the Australian and Aboriginal flags on her victory lap at the 2000 Sydney Olympics, for the first time, an Indigenous Australian will carry the national flag in hand at the biggest sporting event in the world.

No stranger to making history on the basketball court, NBA superstar Patty Mills has been given the ultimate honour of carrying the Australian flag at the Opening Ceremony for the Tokyo Olympics, on July 23.

He will march alongside swim queen Cate Campbell, who has also been chosen to carry the flag, in a parade of nations that is expected to be watched by the biggest television audience in history, topping five billion people around the globe.

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Patty Mills is the first Indigenous Australian to carry the flag at an Olympics.

Taking place a year later than planned after being postponed because of the global pandemic, the Tokyo Olympics is just what the world needs right now to prove that there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

And the selection of Mills and Campbell to carry the national flag is an inspired choice, rekindling memories of when Cathy Freeman lit the cauldron at Sydney 21 years ago, in what remains one of the potent symbols of national reconciliation.

Freeman never got to carry the flag at a ceremony but famously took both the Australian and Aboriginal flags with her on her victory lap after winning the 400m final in Sydney.

Patty Mills has represented Australia on the world stage with distinction. Picture: AAP

A tireless advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, Mills will become the first indigenous Australian to carry the flag at any Olympic ceremony - Opening or Closing, Summer or Winter.

Competing in his fourth Olympics, Mills hasn’t bagged a medal yet, but the 32-year-old does have an NBA championship ring with the San Antonio Spurs and is greatly admired for his tireless advocacy on social and indigenous issues.

“As a proud Kokatha, Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man it’s incredible. A very passionate moment I can feel in my bones. But what does it actually mean to me to be a Flag Bearer?,” said Mills, who was in Las Vegas with the Boomers for the announcement.

“My answer comes from how this particular person in past years, in this role, has impacted me. It’s leadership, representation and It’s insanely meaningful. It’s inspiring. It’s symbolic. It’s emblematic.

Cate Campbell is all smiles after being announced as flag bearer. Picture: Delly Carr

“But I think my honest answer would be, what does it mean to everyone else? What does it mean to the team? What does it mean to everyone in Australia? The thousands of ex-pats living around the world? What does it mean to the next generation? The people that have come before us?

“Because those are the people I proudly represent and will carry the flag for. As the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag Bearer my connection between our country - the land, the sky, the sea, our culture, our history and this particular moment runs extremely deep.”

Asked whether he would like to carry the Australian and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags at the ceremony if allowed, Mills replied: “It’s one of those things that I’m always going to carry those flags wherever I may be, whether it’s in my room, in the village or whether it’s in my room here in Las Vegas.

“Being able to be a proud representative of our culture, our Australian culture, it’s always going to be there.”

Campbell is also making her fourth Olympic appearance and will become the first Australian female swimmer to carry the flag at the Opening Ceremony, 57 years after Dawn Fraser carried the flag at the 1964 closing ceremony, the last time the Olympics were held in Tokyo.

The face of the Australian swim team, Campbell has already won two Olympic gold medals in relays but it is not just her wins that have endeared her to all Australians.

Cathy Freeman carried the Indigenous and Australian flags when she won gold at the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

At the 2016 Rio Olympics, Campbell was the red-hot favourite to win the 100m freestyle gold but fluffed her lines on the big stage and missed out on a medal.

That was heartbreaking enough but her private torment turned into a public lynching when hateful trolls began attacking her on social media but she dusted herself off and climbed back into the ring for another shot at the title.

“It’s always an honour to represent Australia at the Olympics, but this year is even more special,” Campbell said from the swim team’s base camp in Cairns.

“Twelve months ago, I wasn’t even sure if there would be an Olympics. The postponement threw up so many challenges for everyone. More than ever, the Olympics feels like a celebration of the human spirit; a reminder of what we can achieve if we work together.

“Leading the Australian Team out for these Olympics carries extra significance - everyone of us, rookies and seasoned Olympians alike, have had to dig deep to earn a spot on this team; and I am incredibly honoured to be leading us out.”

For the first time, each country will be represented at the Opening and Closing Ceremonies by two flagbearers - one male and one female - in a further nod to gender equity.

The only other time Australia has had two flag bearers was at Moscow in 1980 when Denise Robertson-Boyd and Max Metzker shared the duties, when the team marched under the Olympic flag.

A new oath, created by Australian athletes, was also unveiled for the first time, read out by a who’s who of Olympic legends including Freeman and Fraser.

“Each is a gifted athlete and critically, a natural leader who has the respect of athletes within their chosen sports and beyond. I have no doubt Cate and Patty will have the enthusiastic support of the Australian Olympic Team,” Australian Olympic Team Chef de Mission for Tokyo Ian Chesterman.

“Equally, they are passionately committed to representing their country and carrying the responsibility that goes with that. Both have their own journeys and stories, but that pride in the green and gold shines through so strongly.”

Swim star Cate Campbell is a flag bearer. Picture: AAP

THE SHOWER CHAT THAT LED TO FLAG-BEARER HISTORY

— Erin Smith

It was 41 years ago but dual Australian Olympian Max Metzker can still remember exactly what he was wearing when he was asked if he wanted to be the flag bearer for the 1980 Games – and it wasn’t much.

Max Metzker, now 61, shared the flag bearing duties that year with athlete Denise Boyd.

“At the 2000 Olympics the Prime Minister announced the flag bearers and the whole team was there cheering, it was a major thing,” Metzker said.

“When I was told in 1980 I was in the shower behind a plastic shower screen.

“Chef de Mission Phil Coles stuck his head in and said ‘hey Max, you and Denise have been voted to carry the flag, would you like to do it?’.

“I gave him a simple thumbs up, there was no Prime Minister announcement, no 500 athletes in the bathroom cheering.

“Which was probably a good thing for them,” he joked.

The 1980 Moscow Games, much like the Tokyo Games, were marred in controversy with many athletes and countries boycotting the event due to the Soviet Union’s invasion of Afghanistan.

Metzker said it is serendipitous that this year’s Games would be the first since 1980 that two athletes had shared the flag bearing duty.

“The Government was against us going and offered cash incentives for people not to go, but the swimming team was all in favour, we had no second thoughts,” Metzker said.

“The Games are all about sport and inspiring youth no matter what else is going on in the world.”

Denise Boyd and Max Metzker lead the team into the Moscow Olympics under the Olympic flag in 1980.

Metzker at the 1982 Commonwealth Games in Brisbane.

It wasn’t just carrying the flag that made the 1980 Games so special for Metzker – he went on to win bronze in the men’s 15000m freestyle.

“My 1500m heats were the next day after the opening ceremony but I didn’t care if I was tired or sore I thought the high of carrying the flag would out do any fatigue or muscle soreness,” Metzker said. “And it absolutely did.”

The swimmer turned firefighter had one message for the duo given the flag bearing honour at this year’s Games.

“Just revel in it,’ Metzker said. “The further time goes on the more they will appreciate it and realise how important an honour it is.”

Originally published as Tokyo Olympics 2021: Patty Mills, Cate Campbell named Australian flagbearers