February 28, 2009
LAURIER CURLER NICOL TO CARRY FLAG AT CLOSING CEREMONIES AT UNIVERSIADE
HARBIN, China - Team Canada chef de mission Peter Baxter proudly announced early Saturday Wilfrid Laurier curler Hollie Nicol as the flagbearer for the closing ceremonies of the 24th Winter Universiade, set to take place on Saturday night.
Nicol, the skip from Markham, Ont., and her team of Danielle Inglis (Kleinburg, Ont.), Laura Hickey (Toronto, Ont.), Hillary McDermott (Guelph, Ont.) and Erica Butler (Georgetown, Ont.) claimed a silver medal and finished the tournament with a sparkling 10-1 record after sweeping the competition in the round-robin portion of the event.
The Wilfrid Laurier squad, which earned the right to represent Canada at the world university games following its victory at the inaugural CIS curling championships in 2008, dropped a 6-5 gold-medal final decision to China's Bingyu Wang, a silver medalist at last year's world championships.
"What Hollie and the girls did this week is nothing short of remarkable," said Baxter. "Coming into the Games with modest expectation of success, they showed they can compete at the highest level. Unfortunately, it didn't have the storybook ending they were hoping for, but that doesn't diminish what they achieved here this week."
"It's been a great week, and I'm honoured to have the responsibility of carrying the flag for Canada at the games," said Nicol. "I'm very happy to be given the opportunity to lead the athletes into the closing ceremonies."
The closing ceremonies are slated to begin at 8 p.m. local time, right after the men's hockey gold-medal final between Canada and Russia, which is the last event of the 24th Winter Universiade.
Nicol and the rest of Team Canada's athletes will be at the game, supporting the Canadian men as they try to defend their Universiade title.
"What a great way to end the Games," said Nicol. "Watch the men follow the path of our women's hockey team and win gold - then lead the athletes into the closing gala."
Team Canada website: www.cisport.ca/harbin
2009 Winter Universiade website: http://en.harbin2009.org
Source: CIS Communications
Nicol, the skip from Markham, Ont., and her team of Danielle Inglis (Kleinburg, Ont.), Laura Hickey (Toronto, Ont.), Hillary McDermott (Guelph, Ont.) and Erica Butler (Georgetown, Ont.) claimed a silver medal and finished the tournament with a sparkling 10-1 record after sweeping the competition in the round-robin portion of the event.
The Wilfrid Laurier squad, which earned the right to represent Canada at the world university games following its victory at the inaugural CIS curling championships in 2008, dropped a 6-5 gold-medal final decision to China's Bingyu Wang, a silver medalist at last year's world championships.
"What Hollie and the girls did this week is nothing short of remarkable," said Baxter. "Coming into the Games with modest expectation of success, they showed they can compete at the highest level. Unfortunately, it didn't have the storybook ending they were hoping for, but that doesn't diminish what they achieved here this week."
"It's been a great week, and I'm honoured to have the responsibility of carrying the flag for Canada at the games," said Nicol. "I'm very happy to be given the opportunity to lead the athletes into the closing ceremonies."
The closing ceremonies are slated to begin at 8 p.m. local time, right after the men's hockey gold-medal final between Canada and Russia, which is the last event of the 24th Winter Universiade.
Nicol and the rest of Team Canada's athletes will be at the game, supporting the Canadian men as they try to defend their Universiade title.
"What a great way to end the Games," said Nicol. "Watch the men follow the path of our women's hockey team and win gold - then lead the athletes into the closing gala."
Team Canada website: www.cisport.ca/harbin
2009 Winter Universiade website: http://en.harbin2009.org
Source: CIS Communications
