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Olympic Flag Bearer duties an ‘honour and a privilege’ for Patty Mills

 

Olympic Flag Bearer duties an ‘honour and a privilege’ for Patty Mills

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AOC
Patty Mills

Patty Mills was announced Australian Olympic Team Flag Bearer for Tokyo 2020 alongside Cate Campbell, becoming the first Indigenous Australian to carry the Australian flag at an Olympic Games Opening Ceremony.

It’s a privilege that Mills doesn’t take lightly.

“As a proud Kokatha, Naghiralgal and Dauareb-Meriam man it’s incredible. A very passionate moment I can feel in my bones,” Mills said.

“It’s about identity, it’s about being proud of who you are, and being passionate about that, so it’s obviously an honour.”

Tokyo 2020 will be Mills’ fourth Olympic Games, and the 32-year-old is relishing the responsibility he will undertake as a leader for both the Australian Men’s Basketball team and the wider Australian Olympic Team.

“I don’t think it’s going to be tough at all to balance both, I think the roles compliment each other,” Mills said. “For me, who really gets going off of stuff like this, it’s fuel to the fire, it just adds that other burning sensation to go and achieve a gold medal.”

Whilst spending most of his professional career in North America, Mills has maintained a strong connection with his home country through much of his off-court endeavours. He has pledged to use his platform as a means of helping struggling Australians find elevated standards of life and progression within their communities, with his NBA team, the San Antonio Spurs, a generous donor to bushfire and social justice campaigns throughout the nation, as well as supporting multiple underprivileged families.

“The ability to be in a position where I can give back where I can is important and not only to my communities where I’m from and elsewhere as well, so this is special,” Mills said.

As one of the many Olympians inspired by the heroics of Catherine Freeman, Mills will look to the precedent set by the 400m gold medallist to assist his leadership in Tokyo.

“The biggest impact that Cathy had on me is just being true to who you are and being proud of who you are, being passionate about your identity and let that fuel the fire to achieve those dreams,” Mills said.

“Along with Cathy Freeman there are a lot of other Indigenous role models who I looked up to in numerous different sports and I think all of that packaged together has impacted me in a really good way where I feel like I’m in a position to be able to be that role model.

“This is a very important position and a leadership position that I feel comfortable in, and this is such an honour and a privilege to lead this Team alongside Cate.”

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WATCH / Four-time Basketball Australia Olympian and proud Kokatha, Naghiralgal, Dauareb-Meriam man, Patrick Mills, is Australia's first Indigenous Olympic Flag Bearer!

Mills described the opportunity to share Flag Bearer duties with Campbell as “unbelievable”.

“I think it’s really unique and really cool, and I’m looking forward to sharing this moment with someone,” Mills said. “In past experiences it’s been the lone soldier out the front, so for us to share that moment is going to be very special.

“Following Cate’s career over from the other side of the world, obviously meeting a few times at the Olympic Games and seeing the work that she does outside of the pool is very cool, and something that I keep a close eye on, so very deserving and again I’m really stoked for the opportunity to share this moment with her.”

In Tokyo, Mills and Campbell will be the first pair to carry the Australian flag at the Olympic Games, after Denise Boyd and Max Metzker led the national team in Moscow 1980 behind an Olympic flag.

Mills is the third basketball player to be an Olympic Opening Ceremony Flag Bearer, joining Andrew Gaze (Sydney 2000) and Lauren Jackson (London 2012).

Daniel Lo Surdo

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