Great Britain selects flag-bearer for 2017 Winter Universiade
According to the source, Smeding, who studies at HanzehogeSchool in the Netherlands, has pioneered the rebirth of British longtrack speed skating and has broken all British Junior Girls records in the last three years.
Ellia is the two-time British champion in the 500m, 1000m and the 1500m and joins 64 other students, as well as 31 support staff, in Almaty, Kazakstan for the 28th biennial Winter Universiade. Taking up longtrack speedskating nine years ago, she has been an ambassador for the sport since she was 16-years-old.
Ellia forms half of a two-strong longtrack speedskating team coached by Piet Knip. Accompanying her is fellow Netherlands-based student, Cornelius Kersten (Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences). Despite being an inspiring and influential figure in her sport, she realizes that certain support has helped her achieve her goals.
"The most influential person in my sporting career has been Stephen Airey, team manager for team GB longtrack speedskating. Because of him, many options opened up for me and I was therefore able to improve my skating every season - from joining certain teams, to competing in Junior World Cups. He has been a huge support."
"Being selected to be part of the British team at the Universiade is a huge privilege. I am very excited to represent Great Britain and compete along with many other athletes from such a variety of sports and to also shine a light on my own sport of long track speed skating. To be asked to be the flag bearer is a massive honor. I am very much looking forward to the opening ceremony and being part of the whole experience," says Ellia.
"We received many strong nominations for flag-bearer and Ellia was the team's clear choice to lead us! We are all looking forward to enjoying a fantastic Opening Ceremony and getting the Games off to an exciting start in just 5 days time," adds GB Chef de Mission, Neil Rogers.
The 2017 Winter Universiade, or the World University Winter Games, is an international multi-sport event which is organized for university students and is held under the auspices of the International University Sports Federation (FISU). The event is one of only two senior multi-sport international winter events, alongside the Winter Olympics.