SASKATOON — Team Saskatchewan Chef de Mission Mark Bracken praised the decision to have Luca Veeman as the official flag bearer for the 2023 Canada Winter Games opening ceremony on Feb. 18 in Prince Edward Island. The quadrennial event ends on March 5.
“We are proud to have an athlete of Luca’s calibre lead Team Sask into the Opening Ceremony. Luca also represented Team Sask at the Canada Summer Games in cycling this past summer, which shows his commitment, dedication, and passion for sport,” said Bracken.
“To be an elite level athlete in two sports is amazing. The support and leadership Luca has demonstrated make him a true role model. On behalf of all of us with Team Sask, congratulations, Luca.”
The opening ceremony will be held at the Eastlink Centre in Charlottetown, where more than 3,000 athletes compete in 20 sports for 16 days. Hundreds of coaches, officials, and other team members from Canada’s 10 provinces tend three territories will join them.
The 17-year-old Veeman is one of the province’s most promising young speed skaters. He trains with the Saskatoon Lions Speed Skating Club under Tim Comfort and his father, Chris, who is also Speed Skating Saskatchewan’s president.
“It is a great honour to represent Saskatchewan as the team’s flag bearer. I’m looking forward to seeing Team Sask succeed at these Games. Go Sask,” said Veeman, who started training and competing at six.
Veeman has received numerous club awards for outstanding skater and established the most personal bests earning him a spot on the Speed Skating Saskatchewan Development and Provincial Team for short- and long-track speed skating.
He is currently ranked in the Top 3 Canadian junior speed skaters, which earned him to be accepted to the National Training Centre at the Olympic Oval in Calgary. The RBC athlete has focused more on long-track speed skating.
He won the bronze in 1500m and silver in the 5000m in this year’s Canadian Junior Speed Skating Championships to earn a spot for Team Canada’s national junior team competing in the ISU World Junior Speed Skating Championships in Inzell, Germany.
In 2022, Veeman qualified for the Canadian Junior National Team in long-track speed skating, but due to pandemic restrictions, Canada did not send athletes to compete in Poland.
He will compete in the 500m, 1000m, 1500m and 5000m mass start and team pursuit events in the 2023 Canada Winter Games.
Veeman started cycling in the off-season and represented Saskatchewan in the 2022 Canada Summer Games last August in Niagara, ON.
Athletes who compete at the Canada Games represent the country’s next generation of national, international, and Olympic and Paralympic champions.
Team Sask alumni Mark McMorris, Emily Clark, Rylan Wiens, Shelby Newkirk, Kenzie Priddell, Catriona LeMay Doan, Graham Fish and Brittany Hudak, to name a few, can all count their previous Canada Games experiences as a stepping stone to the Olympic or Paralympic Games.
