Local Paddler Jessica Fox and hockey veteran Eddie Ockenden will lead the Australian Olympic Team as Flag Bearers in this weekend’s Paris 2024 Opening Ceremony on the River Seine.
The pair was announced by Chef de Mission Anna Meares at a special ceremony at the Paris Mint today, the same venue that produced the Paris 2024 medals.
Fox will become the second paddler to carry the flag following the late Dennis Green who carried the flag at Munich 1972.
Ockenden will become the second hockey Flag Bearer, following in the footsteps of Ric Charlesworth who led the Team at Seoul 1988.
They will add to the list of 25 Australians who have previously carried the flag, beginning with George Parker in Antwerp in 1920.
The pair will carve out their own special history, performing the task on a boat with the parade taking place on the River Seine.
Born in Marseille and moving to Australia aged four, Fox is the first Australian canoe slalom athlete to compete at four Games.
The Penrith-based superstar said it’s a huge honour and a privilege to be named.
“I am proud to follow in the steps of so many great Australians who have carried the flag. The Olympic Games bring us together as sports, as athletes and as a nation. And of course I am immensely proud to represent Australia in the country of my birth,” she said.
“I’m so proud to be part of this team. It is one of the greatest moments of my career to be named Flag Bearer and to have the opportunity to present us to Paris & the world by leading us out in the opening ceremony.
“This is my fourth Games, and I am lucky to be competing in three events. My first race is the heats the afternoon after the opening ceremony, so I’ll get a sleep in. I feel this is such an honour and opportunity, that I wouldn’t miss it for the world.
“I am used to a busy schedule with racing and have worked with our team to make sure I’m as best prepared as I can be for this and have a plan in place to ensure I can be ready the next day and Anna and the AOC have been amazing as well to support that.
“It’s so exciting and of course the fact that we will be on water makes it even more attractive to me. I think using the iconic River Seine in the heart of Paris will make this a spectacular and memorable opening ceremony. It’s original and it’s innovative, and I can’t wait!”
Ockenden, the first Australian hockey player ever to compete at five Olympic Games said: “It goes without saying it’s an incredible honour to be asked to carry the Australian flag into the Opening Ceremony.”
Australia’s Chef de Mission Anna Meares says the pair each possess all the attributes that the Team is looking for in a Flag Bearer.
“It was such a pleasure to ask Jess and Eddie to take on this role. They are both so deserving and provide great leadership within their sports and more broadly,” she said.
“Each has longevity, character, humility and great support in the Australian community.
“These decisions are never easy, but I felt extremely comfortable asking Jess and Eddie and even more so when they explained what the honour meant to them, when they eventually found the words.
“Jess is a natural leader. She currently holds roles on both the IOC and the AOC Athletes’ Commissions and sits on the IOC Coordination Commission for the Summer Youth Games in Dakar 2026. She transcends sport and her incredible gold medal run in Tokyo connected with the nation, and still evokes so much emotion for many Australians.
“She is a giant in her sport – an Olympic champion and a world champion. Only last week she received the rare honour of being asked to carry the Olympic Torch as part of the torch relay here in France. On top of all that, she remains humble and compassionate.
“Similarly, Eddie has been a figure in our national hockey team since 2006. He has played more games for our national team than any other man and in Paris expects to play his 450th game for Australia which is incredible.
“He is at his fifth Games, a feat no other Australian hockey player, male or female, has achieved. He won a bronze medal in Beijing, bronze medal in London and silver in Tokyo, it is clear how valuable he is to the team in their on-field play and their off-field culture.
“Eddie is humble but driven, he is hardworking and dedicated. He is a great leader in himself, and I know he will lead our team together with Jess with immense pride, gratitude and grace.
As dual Flag Bearers, they become the third pair behind Denise Boyd and Max Metzker (Moscow 1980) who carried the Olympic Flag and not the Australian flag and Cate Campbell and Patrick Mills (Tokyo 2020) who became the first dual Flag Bearers to carry the Australian Flag.
Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells said it was a tremendous honour to lead Australia into the opening ceremony.
“This honour is richly deserved for our newest Flag Bearers. Jess Fox and Eddie Ockenden have been chosen for their sporting prowess, their humility and grace under pressure,” she said.
“Beyond Jess’s exceptional canoe and kayak feats she is a trailblazer who has fought hard for and delivered greater gender equality in paddle sports, where for decades women were not allowed to compete in the same disciplines as men.
“Eddie is not just an Australian hockey icon but a global sporting champion who has won silver and bronze Olympic medals and played the third most games of any hockey player from any country in history.”
The opening ceremony will be broadcast on the Nine Network early on Saturday morning Australian time.
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