Olympic snowboarder Mark McMorris has been chosen as the 2018 Calgary Stampede Parade Marshal and will lead the procession through downtown Calgary streets on July 6.
Officials revealed their choice at a news conference from Stampede Park at 10:00 a.m.
"Super honoured, thank you guys," said McMorris. “It’s just crazy what snowboarding has brought me the opportunities and the places I get to go.”
McMorris says Calgary has always been close to his heart as he has spent many hours training at COP and Lake Louise during his career.
“Calgary has always been really close to my family’s heart. We would come out here, I snowboarded for my very first time in Lake Louise and then spent a lot of my childhood at COP,” he said.
He says this will be his first Stampede and that he is looking forward to leading the parade and attending the event.
“I’m going to ride a horse for an hour and a half on the parade day and so that’s going to be crazy. It’s going to hurt and I’m going to be bow-legged but I’m looking forward to it. It’s just a huge honour,” McMorris said.
McMorris is a two-time Canadian Olympian and 15-time X Games medalist and he was recently named Best Male Sports Athlete at the 2017 ESPY Awards.
The Stampede Parade kicks off the 10 day event and this year the route is reversed.
The 2018 Calgary Stampede Parade is on Friday, July 6 and starts at 7:30 a.m.
The Calgary Stampede runs from July 6 – 15. For more information, clickHERE.
