RIO DE JANEIRO — David Eng, a man who strives each day to become the perfect Paralympian, was the perfect choice to lead Team Canada into the opening ceremonies here on Wednesday.
The 39-year-old wheelchair basketball star from Montreal, who owns two golds and a silver from his previous three Paralympic appearances, was thrilled, and no longer at a loss for words.
“I’ve known for a couple weeks now that I was going to be the flag bearer and nothing came really to mind. I knew that I wanted to say it was a great honour, but I didn’t know how to express it,” said Eng, who was born with one leg longer than the other. “And a funny thing happened. Actually it usually happens to me. I just woke up in the middle of the night and it just all happened. I could have talked for, like, half an hour, an hour. I still had a lot of content.”
He was enthusiastic, gracious and well-spoken after chef de mission Chantal Petitclerc introduced him as flag bearer. He told assembled media and teammates at the Paralympic Athletes Village that each time he saw a friend like Chantal Benoit, Petitclerc or Benoit Huot carry the Maple Leaf at previous Games, he was struck by its significance.
“Every single time I was like, wow, what an honour. I can’t believe it today … I have the chance to be able to do that.”
He also made sure to thank Mike Frogley, a former coach who is now Wheelchair Basketball Canada’s high performance director, and a man who “not only taught me about basketball, but about life beyond and behind basketball.”
Eng remembered that at his first Paralympics in 2004, Frogley came to the athletes village each day with a sheet of paper, which he stuck on the wall. On each piece was a character trait.
“Every day we had to focus on becoming that character trait,” said Eng. “There was commitment, there was leadership, there were all those character-building (traits) to be the perfect Paralympian. I remember that when I started focusing on that, that’s what I wanted to become, that kind of person.”
Mission accomplished.
“Every great team, every great organization, they start first and foremost with great character. … You can’t truly be great without that as your foundation,” said Frogley. “You can be very good and be a total jerk, but you can’t ever be great. That’s what David is. He provides that foundation of great character that’s going to allow us to be great.”
Frogley had no idea Eng was going to recite those words back to him 12 years later, but he was impressed and humbled.
“As a coach, you say so many things to athletes,” said Frogley. “You never know what things are going to be the things that connect. That’s exactly why it’s so important for coaches to pay attention to what they say and the model they present to athletes.”