The Canadian Paralympic Committee has selected its flag bearers for the opening ceremonies of the 2022 Paralympic Winter Games in Beijing on Friday. They will be wheelchair curler Ina Forrest of Spallumcheen, British Columbia, and para ice hockey player Greg Westlake of North Vancouver, British Columbia, according to the Canadian Press.
Forrest, who is 59 years of age, won the gold medal for Canada in wheelchair curling at the 2010 Paralympic Winter Games in Vancouver, and at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi, along with a bronze medal at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang. She also won gold medals at the 2009 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Vancouver, at the 2011 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Prague, and at the 2013 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Sochi. Forrest won a fourth medal at the 2020 World Wheelchair Curling Championships in Wetzikon, Switzerland, as Canada came away with a silver medal.
Westlake, who is 35 years old, won the gold medal for Canada at the 2006 Paralympic Winter Games in Turin, silver medal at the 2018 Paralympic Winter Games in Pyeongchang, and bronze medal at the 2014 Paralympic Winter Games in Sochi. He has also won six medals at the International Paralympic Committee World Para Ice Hockey Championships, including two gold medals. The gold medals came in 2008 in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and in 2013 in Goyang, South Korea.
Forrest was eligible for the Paralympic Winter Games at the age of 21, when she became paralyzed after being hit by a drunk driver. Westlake meanwhile had both legs amputated at 18 months old after being born with a congenital lower limb condition.
