Kia Nurse: Basketball star proud to have honour of carrying Canada’s flag in closing ceremonies
She propelled her team to the top of the podium and on Sunday Canadian women’s basketball golden girl Kia Nurse was honoured with more than just a gold medal, carrying Canada’s flag at the Pan Am Games closing ceremony.
“It’s such an honour . . . I wish my whole team could be here and carry it with me, all of us, but I’m so thankful for the opportunity,” Nurse said after she was officially announced as Canada’s flag bearer Sunday afternoon.
The 19-year-old guard led her teammates to a historic gold medal, the first ever for the country at the Pan Am Games, earlier in the week, beating the United States 81-73.
Nurse scored 33 points in that game, a large chunk of her team-high 68 points in the tournament overall. She also led the team in minutes played, with 168.
But despite a performance that cemented her reputation as the future face of Canadian women’s basketball, the native of Hamilton said she was shocked to receive a phone call asking her to carry the flag for Canada Sunday.
Canada’s chef de mission Curt Harnett was not as shocked. In the former Olympian’s mind, Nurse epitomizes the dedication, hard work and grit shared by all 715 Canadian athletes that competed for Canada over the past 16 days.
“Kia represents everything that is great about this team and I know she will lead us with pride as flag bearer at the closing,” he said. Her coach Lisa Thomaidis agrees. “The biggest games, and she’s the one rising to the occasion,” she previous told the Star. “There are very few players who can do that and do that at the level she did (in the gold medal game).”
But Nurse, who said life has been a whirlwind since winning the gold, doesn’t take all the credit. She was full of praise for the Canadians who supported her and her teammates throughout their five-game run. The fans, she said, were the team’s sixth man.
“We don’t even get to play meaningful games at home and for this to be our first one, it set the standard extremely high. Canada really stepped up to the plate.”
Nurse said she and her teammates have already turned their focus to next summer’s Olympics Games in Rio.
“Our Olympic qualifier happens in three weeks, Aug. 9, so we’re getting back at it next week (in Edmonton) and we’re looking forward to trying to get back to this atmosphere again.”
But first, Nurse has one more Pan Am challenge to conquer. She missed the Games’ opening ceremonies but planned to make up for it Sunday night.
And granted the privilege of carrying the flag for all Canadians to see, ever the competitor, Nurse was keen to do it right.
“I’m just going to make sure I wave it wide.” “I wish my whole team could be here and carry it with me, all of us, but I’m so thankful for the opportunity,”
KIA NURSE
ON CARRYING CANADA’S FLAG