Lee Pearson will become the first homosexual person to carry the Great Britain flag at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games tonight in Rio de Janeiro. Pearson is an equestrian rider who has won a total of 10 gold medals for his nation at the Paralympic Games.
The 42-year old athlete will be competing in his fifth Paralympic Games in Rio after he started his journey at the Games by winning an astonishing three gold medals on debut at the 2000 Sydney Paralympic Games.
The athlete spoke before he carries the Union Jack during the ceremony. Pearson said, “I think that's why I'm so proud of my fellow athletes. To vote a gay bloke to be in that position to lead them out through that tunnel and out into the Paralympic Games is an amazing honour. What an amazing nation we have – we've got so many diverse characters, different religions and races.”
The equestrian rider was nominated for carrying the flag at the opening ceremony by his 264 fellow athletes who will be representing Great Britain in 19 different sports in Brazil. The 42-year old said, “Even if I died yesterday, to have done what I've done in my life is surreal.
“To be voted in this position, means we've moved on even further when people don't give it any thought. I don't want them to think 'oh, he's a gay bloke, let's give him a chance'. I want them to think 'he's a nice bloke, who has done what he's done for the country in previous Games'.”
Pearson confessed that he had deleted the mail he had received regarding the nomination and has been busy preparing his horse since arriving on Saturday. He said, “The news was broken by my performance manager. I've been so focused on getting the horse here.
“I did see the nomination that you could do and I thought it would be rude to nominate yourself, so I just deleted the email. And I literally never gave it any more thought. I thought that's nice to be nominated, but I never dreamed that the athletes would vote for me to put me in this position.”
The British athlete added, “I was half hoping to come to Rio slightly quietly as the underdog. I won the World Equestrian Games in 2014 and beat a French gentleman that beat me in London. All of a sudden it was like da-da, you're on the world stage again. Nobody ever would decline this opportunity. It genuinely is a privilege.”
Previously, four-time Olympian Kate Richardson-Walsh, who is married to hockey team-mate Helen, became the first ever ‘gay’ athlete to carry the British flag at an Olympic or Paralympic closing ceremony, when she got the privilege to do so at the closing ceremony of the recently concluded Olympic Games in Rio.
Great Britain will go into the Paralympic Games as the favourite to come close to China’s tally of medals. The nation had finished third in the medals table in London four years ago with 120 medals, 34 of which were gold. But it was China and Russia, who had finished at the first two spots respectively at London 2012.
However, with none of the Russian athletes taking part in the 11-day sporting festival in Rio, Great Britain will be hoping to better their tally of 120 medals.
