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British flagbearer Lucy Shuker hopes to follow in the footsteps of Tom Daley by being a beacon of hope for the LGBTQ+ community in Paris.
The wheelchair tennis player will proudly lead her nation into the opening ceremony of the Paralympics on Wednesday evening after being selected for the role alongside wheelchair basketball athlete Terry Bywater.
Diver Daley, who is married to US screenwriter Dustin Lance Black, last month shared a similar responsibility with rower Helen Glover for Team GB at the launch of the Olympics.
While her parents have remained at home due to health issues, Shuker’s partner Amy will be among the spectators in France.
“I want the world to be in a position where people can love who they want to love and that be accepted,” said Shuker, a silver and two-time bronze Paralympic medallist in doubles.
“To love someone, that is special, and it doesn’t matter if it’s the same sex or the opposing sex.
“But I also understand where we are in this world where there are still countries and places where it’s forbidden, or it’s against the law, you could be jailed, or people lose their lives as a result of it.
“To be openly supportive, I am happy to be that, to represent because my partner is a woman and they love me for who I am, no matter my disability or not, and that’s really special.
“Tom Daley flew it for the Olympics and he’s huge, an incredible following.
“If we can inspire other people to feel safe and to come out and to talk and to be openly themselves (that is a positive thing).
“There are so many on ParalympicsGB that are part of the LGBTQ+ community and openly talk about it and there are people who won’t openly talk about it.
“I want people to accept people for who they are, for who they love; as long as we’re nice people, that to me is the core values that should be respected.”
Shuker, who is preparing for her fifth Games after debuting in Beijing in 2008, will be among up to 4,400 athletes parading along the Champs-Elysees to Place de la Concorde.
The 44-year-old feels she has “come full circle” as she prepares to be Great Britain’s first flagbearer from wheelchair tennis since Peter Norfolk – the man who encouraged her to take up the sport after she was paralysed from the chest down following a motorbike crash in 2001.
She bought her first chair from two-time gold medallist Norfolk, who led Great Britain into London 2012, and persisted with the sport, despite initially being told she was “too disabled” to compete.
“I met Peter soon after I’d had my accident,” Shuker said.
“I played badminton before my accident and he just said, ‘Why don’t you try wheelchair tennis?’.
“He actually lent me one of his old tennis chairs. I tried it, it was tough, it was frustrating but it was also amazing.
“I quickly fell in love with the sport but was very much told I was too disabled. But I carried on playing, qualified for Beijing.
“For Pete to be a flagbearer, it almost feels like it’s come full circle. I will definitely reach out to him because this is a huge honour.”
Bywater, 41, insists the responsibility will not be a distraction ahead of his side’s opening match against Germany at 10.30am French time on Thursday.
“They’re going to take care of us, as soon as that event’s finished we’ll get back to the village and be resting up for the game,” said the four-time bronze medallist, who is at the seventh Games of his career.
“It’s a dream come true to carry the flag at the biggest sporting event in the world.
“When I was told, I started crying. Team-mates were coming up to me with tears in their eyes as well.”
