Canadian Olympic athletes Ethan Katzberg (left) and Summer McIntosh have been selected to be the country's flagbearers in the Paris Olympics closing ceremony.Siegfried Moldola/The Globe and Mail
Canadian Olympic officials chose a pair of history-makers to carry the flag at the closing ceremony of the Paris Summer Games, selecting two athletes who rewrote the record books on their way to the podium.
Summer McIntosh, a swimming phenom who became the first Canadian to win three gold medals at a single Olympics, and Ethan Katzberg, the country’s first hammer-throw champion, were tapped for the symbolic honour of carrying the flag.
For 17-year-old Ms. McIntosh, the announcement capped a whirlwind week in which she racked up a lot of time at airports.
After winning four medals at the pool – three gold and one silver – Ms. McIntosh flew home to Toronto last Tuesday to spend time with family and friends at their Ontario cottage. Several days later, she turned around and came back for the closing ceremony Sunday.
“My perception of time right now is a little messed up, to be honest. It’s kind of been all over the place with time changes and flights and things like that,” Ms. McIntosh said.
“But I was able to go home for a few days and celebrate with my friends and family at my cottage and it was really cool just to be home and kind of appreciate all that we’ve done.
“And obviously, when I got the call that I’d be flag bearer, I was very honoured, and I was very excited to come back.”
Ethan Katzberg of Canada celebrates after winning gold in the men's hammer throw final.David Goldman/The Associated Press
Mr. Katzberg, 22, had also left Paris when he got the call. Because the track-and-field season is still in full swing, he was already preparing for his next event.
“I was in Slovakia for a training camp, but I’m happy to interrupt it a little bit for this,” said Mr. Katzberg, who is from Nanaimo, B.C.
“It was an incredibly successful Olympics for Canada, and that’s really great to see.”
Phil Wizard of Canada celebrates with his gold medal at the breaking B-Boys victory ceremony.Angelika Warmuth/Reuters
The Paris Olympics were Canada’s most successful Summer Games in a non-boycotted year, winning 27 medals, including nine gold, seven silver and 11 bronze. Canada recorded 49 top-five finishes.
By comparison, Canada won 24 medals, including seven gold, at the Tokyo Olympics three years ago and 22 medals, including four gold, at the 2016 Rio Summer Games.
For all of Canada’s accomplishments on the field, in the pool and elsewhere, the team was also beset with controversies for much of the Paris Games.
David Shoemaker, chief executive of the Canadian Olympic Committee, began Sunday’s closing news conference in Paris by acknowledging that the COC had a nightmare start to these Olympics. A scandal enveloping the women’s soccer team, which was caught using drones to spy on opposing teams’ training sessions, overshadowed the events and tarnished Team Canada’s reputation.
“I certainly don’t think that was how any of us wanted to start our Games,” Mr. Shoemaker said. “But I’m very happy with how we are ending them.”
Canada’s nine gold medals in Paris provided some of the most indelible moments of the Olympics.
Canada's Summer Mcintosh reacts after winning the final of the women's 200m individual medley swimming event.JONATHAN NACKSTRAND/Getty Images
The trio of gold medals from Ms. McIntosh included a remarkable win in the 400-metre individual medley, an event in which she held the world record. Ms. McIntosh led the race from start to finish and asserted herself as one of the world’s best swimmers. She then added a gold medal in the 200-metre butterfly, the same event her mom, Jill McIntosh, swam for Canada at the 1984 Olympics.
Ms. McIntosh’s haul was part of an eight-medal performance by Canada in swimming.
But the country also emerged as a force in the hammer-throwing cage of Stade de France, where Mr. Katzberg and Camryn Rogers stamped Canada as a world power in the field event.
Among the other most notable images of the Games was the unforgettable night at the track, when the quartet of Jerome Blake, Aaron Brown, Brendon Rodney and anchor Andre De Grasse shocked the track world by winning gold in the men’s 4x100-metre relay.
Andre De Grasse of Canada celebrates winning the gold medal in the men's 4x100m relay final.Hannah Peters/Getty Images
That relay gold was especially emotional for Canada’s Chef de Mission in Paris, Bruny Surin, who was on the last Canadian team to earn Olympic gold in that event at Atlanta in 1996.
“That night, I didn’t sleep,” Mr. Surin said of cheering on Canada’s relay team in Paris. “When Andre took [the baton], the emotion that brought, it was incredible.”
There were other dramatic showings, such as the silver won at the beach volleyball court at the foot of the Eiffel Tower by Melissa Humana-Paredes and Brandie Wilkerson, the first podium by Canadian women in that event.
There were moments of heartbreak as well, like world-leading athletes such as decathlete Damian Warner and shot putter Sarah Mitton faltering on the Olympic stage. And for all its success at the pool, Canada came up uncharacteristically empty-handed in the relay events, where it has won multiple medals at the past two Summer Games.
Damian Warner of Canada looks on at the start of a heat in the men's decathlon 110m hurdles.Petr David Josek/The Associated Press
The soccer drone story was not the only scandal the COC faced in Paris. The federation had to revoke the credential of Mr. De Grasse’s personal coach in the midst of the decorated sprinter’s competition. The COC learned of allegations of sexual abuse facing coach Rana Reider and ousted him from the Games. Those have not been tested in court.
Mr. Shoemaker insisted the COC wants to build a safer, more inclusive sports system. That, he used the occasion to remind, takes money. The Canadian government has not increased financing to its sports federations as costs to operate have only escalated. He worried about the future performance of Canadian athletes in the next two Games, 2026 in Milano Cortina, and 2028 in Los Angeles.
“Our athletes are doing more with less,” Mr. Shoemaker said. “I’d like to see the government of Canada do much more.”
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