Veteran Paralympian Danni Di Toro and dual wheelchair rugby gold medallist Ryley Batt OAM were confirmed as Australia’s flag-bearers on Monday.
Kayo is your ticket to the best local and international sport streaming Live & On-Demand. New to Kayo? Try 14-days free now >
The Tokyo Paralympic Games are the first to feature two flag-bearers and both said they were honoured to have been asked to take on the role.
“It’s incredibly humbling, especially when I think about the Paralympians before us who’ve had this honour,” said Di Toro, who is a former wheelchair tennis world number one.
Di Toro was co-captain of the Paralympic team at the 2016 games as well. (AAP Image/Joel Carrett)Source:AAP
“To share it with Ryley, it’s a really special moment. We’ll be taking the flag into the stadium with the team behind us in spirit.”
Batt added: “It’s an extreme honour and I’m super proud to share this moment with Danni at a special Paralympic Games.
“The world’s going through a lot of negativity at the moment, but this is a hugely positive thing for Australia.
“Danni and I are just being ourselves and bringing this mob together. There’s so many different sports in our team and people who don’t see each other across the four-year cycle – five years this time – so we’re just being our friendly selves, making sure everyone communicates.
“I think that’s how we live. We don’t have to try to be leaders. I think it’s just a natural thing for us to be friendly with everyone and help create this massive sense of community within the Australian team.”
Batt has been representing Australia in wheelchair rugby since adolescence.Source:News Limited
Both Di Toro and Batt will draw on their extensive Paralympic experience heading into this year’s Games.
Di Toro got her first taste of the Olympics at the 1996 Paralympics in Atlanta and went on to win silver and bronze in Sydney and Athens, respectively.
Batt, meanwhile, guided Australia to its first ever wheelchair rugby gold medal in 2012, before achieving the same feat at the 2016 Games in Rio.
Australian Team Chef de Mission Kate McLoughlin said she chose the pair for their hard work both in and out of the public eye.
“Given what we’ve all gone through over the past 12 months, I could not pick more deserving, more supportive athletes who have been there for each and every one of this team,” McLoughlin said.
“I’m probably not even aware of a lot of the great things they’ve done. They’ve led the team publicly but behind the scenes I think there’s a huge amount of work they’ve done that has gone unnoticed, such as setting up representative groups within each sport to make sure that athletes’ voices are heard, being a sounding board from a welfare perspective … They do so much more than what normal captains would do.
“I think every member of this athlete cohort knows how special these two are.”
The Paralympic Games commence on Tuesday, August 24.