Pat Anderson, Katarina Roxon named Canada's flag-bearers for Paris Paralympics opening ceremony

Basketball player Pat Anderson and swimmer Katarina Roxon, who have competed at a combined nine Paralympics, will lead Canada's delegation at Wednesday's opening ceremony at 1:20 p.m. ET at Place de la Concorde, the largest square in Paris.

Announced Tuesday as flag-bearers, they are part of the 126-member Canadian team looking to build upon 21 medals, including five gold, earned three years ago at the Tokyo Paralympics.

It'll mark the sixth and final Games for 45-year-old Anderson, who has captured three gold medals and a silver, dating to the 2000 event in Sydney.

"This is a big honour and special thing," Anderson stated in a Canadian Paralympic Committee news release. "This is a special country and an opportunity to represent wheelchair basketball in front of the world and the entire Canadian Paralympic Team.

"It was very much a surprise. I've been chosen, and I will step up. It's going to be really cool."

For Roxon, 31, she will become the first Canadian female swimmer to compete at five Paralympics, 16 years after her 2008 debut in Beijing.

"I don't think it's actually set in yet," said Roxon. "When I was told about this, I was super excited that I would even be thought of among all the amazing athletes that Canada has. To see where I started out from, little baby Katarina in 2008 at the Games to now here at my fifth Games as a well-versed veteran, to be named as one of the flag bearers is such a huge honour and a huge privilege."

Anderson and his wheelchair basketball teammates qualified for Paris in April with a 72-60 victory over Italy at a men's repechage tournament in Antibes, France.

WATCH | Anderson, teammates book ticket to Paris Paralympics:

The Canadian squad, which has appeared at each Games since 1968, is aiming for its first gold since 2012 in London after being crowned Paralympic champions in 2000 and 2004. Anderson also picked up a silver medal in 2008.

"Going way back [to my first Games in Sydney] we definitely knew we had a chance to win a gold medal and we knew we were one of the best teams there," Anderson told reporters during a recent Zoom call from Europe. "We were very confident. We were young, we were hungry, we hadn't won anything yet.

"This team is also kind of young and hungry but we're definitely middle of the pack and … we have to take it one step at a time and get better as the tournament goes on."

Last fall, Anderson averaged 17.8 points per game in leading Canada to Parapan Am bronze in Santiago, Chile, and helping it secure a spot at the last-chance Paralympic qualifier in Antibes.

Post-Paris, the father of three who was born in Edmonton and raised in Fergus, Ont., would like to give back to the game of wheelchair basketball.