The honour of Flagbearer was bestowed on the 45-year-old from Victoria today during a special ceremony for the Australian Paralympic team at Cardiff Castle in Wales, which is located a short distance away from their London 2012 preparation camp in the city.

With more than 260 members of the 305-strong Australian Paralympic team watching on, Smith (pictured above and below) received the flag from Australia's Paralympic Chef de Mission Jason Hellwig and waved it proudly.

In eight days' time, Smith will perform the same duty in front of 80,000 fans and millions on television as he leads the Australian team at the London 2012 Olympic Stadium in Stratford – a moment he admits will be the proudest of his distinguished career.

"I'm thrilled, absolutely thrilled," said Smith, who was a physical training instructor in the Australian Army before a car accident in 1986 left him paralysed below the chest.

"I'm so proud to be an Australian Paralympian and to be given the honour of leading this team into the Opening Ceremony is definitely one of the highlights.

"I will never forget this moment.

"It is hard to believe I have been recognised in this way because of the quality of people who could have been given this role."

Smith is one of Australia's greatest Paralympians having won three Paralympic golds, two silvers and two bronze medals in wheelchair racing before switching to wheelchair basketball and winning a Paralympic silver medal with his team at Beijing 2008.


"I remember in Barcelona in 1992 at my first Games when the Flagbearer was announced," he said.

"I just thought 'wow, that's something very special'.

"I could have never imagined that being me one day.

"I just remember that feeling of how proud you'd be if you were given such an honour."

Hellwig said he would be hugely proud to march behind Smith in the Opening Ceremony.

"Greg embodies the virtues of the Australian Paralympic Movement to the very highest standards," said Hellwig, who is also the Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) chief executive.

"He is team-orientated and humble but fierce in the heat of competitive battle and enormously successful in his chosen disciplines.

"To be the Australian Flagbearer is a major honour in an athlete's career.

"It is an appointment which considers not only an athlete's performance on the field of play, but equally, the attributes and characteristics that represent the standards, culture and meaning of the Australian Paralympic Movement.

"Greg has represented Australia with distinction in two sports.

"As a wheelchair track and road racer he was one of our best ever.

"As a wheelchair rugby player, he serves his team, his sport and the Paralympic Movement with distinction, focus and humility."

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