Williams to carry the British flag at Vancouver closing ceremony

From Sportsbeat staff, in Vancouver

 SKELETON Olympic gold medallist Amy Williams will carry the Great Britain flag at Sunday's closing ceremony at Vancouver 2010.

HONOURED: Amy Williams is set to see her profiled massively boosted on returning to Britain, but first she will carry the flag at the closing ceremony (Getty Images)

The 27-year-old is the unsurprising choice, having collected Great Britain's only medal of the Games and ensures that for the third time in a row, the British flagbearer will be a skeleton athlete.

Williams, who became the first British individual Winter Olympic champion for 30 years and the first female to top the winter podium for 58 years, follows in the footsteps of Shelley Rudman, a skeleton silver medallist in 2006 and sixth in Vancouver.

"What an amazing honour to be asked to carry the British flag and lead the way for Team GB. I am hugely thrilled and proud - this really does mean the world to me," said Williams.

"I've been pinching myself ever since I won the gold medal, and now to have this honour come my way is brilliant. I'm sure the Closing Ceremony will be a wonderful finale to what has been, to me, an incredible Games."

Williams' gold was the shining light of an otherwise distinctly average performance from the 52 Brits in Vancouver, who fell well short of the three medals targeted by UK Sport.

The British Olympic Association have always distanced themselves from that target but chief executive Andy Hunt admitted selecting the flagbearer for the closing ceremony was not a difficult choice.

He said: "There was only one truly outstanding candidate to carry our flag and that was Amy. She produced a magnificent performance to win the gold medal in skeleton - our first individual gold in 30 years.

"But she is also a charming and inspirational figure who we hope will help to encourage a new generation towards embracing Olympic sport.

"The Closing Ceremony marks the end of a fine Winter Olympics.  Our team has competed consistently well and produced some outstanding performances.

"Sunday's ceremony will give our athletes a final chance to savour the unique atmosphere of these Games, and hopefully spur them on to return to the ranks of Team GB in Sochi in 2014."

 AS IT HAPPENS: Day 16 of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver