A huge sense of pride washed over German paddler Edina Mueller when she carried her country’s flag at the Opening Ceremony of the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games.
With Paracanoe competition taking place in the second week of the Games, Mueller had not originally planned to attend the curtain raiser on August 28.
But those plans suddenly changed when she was selected as one of Germany’s flagbearers along with Para triathlete Martin Schulz.
“It was a great honour,” said Mueller.
“Athletes voted who they wanted their flagbearers to be, and it was me and Martin Schulz from triathlon which means a lot.
“It was awesome.
“We didn’t know what to expect as Paris did things differently.
“It was at the Place de la Concorde, but it had a stadium feeling because of how they arranged everything.
“It was a like stadium but in the middle of Paris, so it was crazy.”
Carrying the flag was an uplifting moment for the reigning Paralympic KL1 champion who has endured a difficult past 12 months.
Mueller suffered a broken leg and contracted COVID-19 in 2023 and has struggled with fatigue in the build-up to the Paralympics.
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“I haven’t had the perfect preparation,” said Mueller.
“I was fighting fatigue which may have been something from the coronavirus infection and I broke my leg last year.
“I couldn’t train with the intensity that I would have liked for the past five months.”
Mueller said she surprised herself by securing a bronze medal at this year’s International Canoe Federation Paracanoe World Championships in Szeged.
“At the World Championships, I was in better condition than I thought I would be,” said Mueller.
“You are always prioritising the year and I was faster than I planned to be at that time.
“The low came after that.
“When I had this fatigue, I had to talk to our team doctors so we planned the training with lower intensity and I could not train at all for one week.”
Mueller said her earlier-than-expected arrival in Paris had given her much-needed time to adapt to the conditions and allowed her the opportunity to soak up the Paralympic experience.
“We had planned to arrive much later but because I was a flagbearer for the German team we arrived before the Opening Ceremony,” said Mueller.
“Canoeing is always last so we always miss the Opening Ceremony but this time we got the whole experience.
“It felt like I had the whole team behind me.
“Being here so early and having our competition almost at the end of the Games has given me a lot of time to watch our athletes on TV and get a lot of energy from that success, fighting for medals and places.
“The course is not easy as it is very windy and it changes very quickly.
“You go on the water and then 20 minutes later the wind is coming from the opposite side.
“Especially for my class, I cannot steer so it is good for me to be here early so I can race with every wind and wave.”
Mueller picked up a silver at Rio 2016 before striking gold at Tokyo 2020 and will be seeking to add to her medal tally in Paris.
“I am probably one of the lightest paddlers out there and I am struggling with wind from the side more than other paddlers,” said Mueller.
“Having five or six athletes coming in so close, it makes it hard to say what is going to happen.
“I can fight for a medal if everything goes as planned.”
Mueller was a successful wheelchair basketball player, winning silver at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 before switching to Paracanoe in 2014 ahead of the sport’s Paralympic debut at Rio 2016.
The 41-year-old said the Paralympics holds a special place in her heart as she prepares for her fifth appearance at the Games.
“I always need this one special moment or a spark,” said Mueller.
“In Rio, I saw the Closing Ceremony where Japan came on stage and introduced the Paralympic Games there and I was thinking ‘wow I have to be there’.
“So I am waiting for a moment like this.
“It all has to work together as I have a child who is five years old now.
“He is starting school next year and I have a normal job at home as I am a sports therapist.
“These are all the things that I have to think about and discuss because it is always a four-year cycle and it’s a long period of time.”
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