Team GB flagbearer and rugby sevens captain Abbie Brown is ready to embrace a different type of spotlight at the European Games.
The two-time Olympian will step out alongside slalom canoeist Joe Clarke on Wednesday evening as they lead the nation in the Games’ opening ceremony at the Henryk Reyman Municipal Stadium in Krakow.
A gold medal in the women’s sevens will secure automatic qualification for next year’s Olympics.
However, Brown revealed that despite her dazzling CV of experience, she was shocked when she found out she would be bearing the flag for her nation at the opening ceremony.
She said: “It’s an honour and it’s one of those things that I always saw other people doing.
“I never thought I'd be up for selection and chosen to do it.
Announcing our Krakow 2023 flagbearers 🇬🇧
— Team GB (@TeamGB) June 21, 2023
Congratulations to Abbie Brown and Joe Clarke, who will lead the team out at tonight's Opening Ceremony!
“It’s something I’m really looking forward to and doing it with the rugby girls and boys here as well is so special.”
Brown, who came fourth with Team GB in Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020, said her side are ready to embrace the Games environment and end their season on a high.
Great Britain Sevens' women kickstart their campaign for Olympic qualification on Monday as they prepare to overcome their pool of Czech Republic, Italy and Turkey with Tuesday evening’s final in their sights.
The 27-year-old said: “Being the favourites going in is a new pressure for us as a squad because we’ve not had that all year, we’ve been the underdogs.
Flying the flag 🇬🇧@abbiebrown10 and @joeclarkek1 will join an elite club of Team GB flagbearers when they lead the team into the Krakow 2023 European Games Opening Ceremony tonight...#EuropeanGames2023
— Team GB (@TeamGB) June 21, 2023
“It’s a different kind of pressure but the buzz we have around our squad is amazing.
“As a programme, we’ve had our challenges, we’ve overcome some tricky obstacles and come together and that’s so powerful.
“The squad is in a really good place with it at a time where we’re ready to fire on all cylinders.
“It’s so important going into next year that we qualify for the Olympics and then go and give it a really good shot.
“For me it’s about embracing this environment and this opportunity, because it’s a really unique one, but not getting too swept away with it and knowing what our goal is.”
Great Britain Sevens competed in the HSBC World Rugby Sevens Series as a union of England, Scotland and Wales for the first time this year.
And Brown believes that this togetherness will be key in securing top spot on the podium next week.
She added: “I do believe sevens is on this crazy journey and we always have been.
“The fact that this year we’ve been Team GB and we haven't been three separate nations is fantastic.
“It’s meant that we can have time to practise, be around each other and have that kind of unity at the peak of our season.
“A lot of girls that we’ve got haven't had much experience of a multi-sport event.
“But there’s an element of such excitement because it’s such a different squad to what we’ve had before.”
Sportsbeat 2023