Rio de Janeiro: Australia's men's basketball wheelchair captain Brad Ness has been granted the honour of becoming the nation's flagbearer at the Rio Paralympics opening ceremony.
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Now a five-time Paralympian, the 41-year-old was chosen by the team's chef de mission Kate McLoughlin, partly for his overall contribution in supporting Paralympic sport and disabled athletes.
"He's an amazing athlete. He's an amazing role model in Paralympic sport," McLoughlin said.
"What he has achieved in Paralympic sport - he's a gold medallist, he's a silver medallist from the London Games."
The Australian Paralympic Committee already had named two co-captains – veteran Paralympians Kurt Fearnley and Daniela Di Toro – to lead the 170-plus team, heightening speculation about this year's flagbearer.
McLoughlin said there were several criteria which helped her reach a decision, not just longevity in Paralympic sport and personal achievements.
"(Brad) is someone who is doing amazing work in the indigenous communities in Western Australia. He helped set up the Red Dust Heelers, which is an indigenous wheelchair program and team.
"There's a couple of athletes on this (basketball) team from WA who had their accident and he came to their bedside and said 'look, your life's not over'."
The Rollers captain was unveiled as the flagbearer at a ceremony at Rio's athletes village but was told about the honour before the event.
"He was speechless and that's very unusual for Brad. He normally talks underwater. For him to be speechless was a pretty cool position to be in," McLoughlin said.
On Monday, Ness was a touch emotional as his name was read out in front of more than 150 Australian teammates.
"Carrying the flag at the opening ceremony is going to make me feel 10 feet tall and bulletproof," Ness said.
"It's pretty special," he added.
"I've been lucky enough to march at all four of them (Paralympics opening ceremonies).
"It is special. It's the added bonus of coming to this event. We go to World Cups, etc, and you have nothing like the opening ceremony."
The Rollers take to the court on the opening day against the Netherlands and had been planning to skip the opening ceremony at the Maracana.
Those plans are now, understandably, being reassessed.
