Wednesday, Athens Paralympian Kevin Szott was named the flagbearer for Opening Ceremonies. Today he’s answering 10 (or 11) questions with USOlympicteam.com on what it’s like being a four-time Paralympian and Sydney gold medalist, The Rookie and who has the best clothes in the Paralympic Village…

Q1: What’s it like being at your fourth Paralympic Games?

KEVIN SZOTT: It’s cool. Each time is different. The experience is always unique….It’s one of the reasons I’ve stayed involved for the last 20 years. My first Games were ’84 and this one’s my last one, so yeah, 20 years of Paralympics and basically 27 years of disabled sports. Each time is different. Getting to be the flagbearer is obviously a great honor and it’s something that makes this trip obviously more special than the other ones. Coming back, trying to finish out on top puts a little added pressure on it because there is no "next time"…I enjoy it. It’s tougher. I’ve got more things going on in my life now that make training tougher and make the commitment harder to make but to me it’s worth it to do it one last time. I want to end my career where the Games started.

Q2: How do you think the Games have changed since your first one?

KEVIN SZOTT: Tremendously. Just the world exposure. My Games in ’84 was about 1,600 athletes from about 70-80 countries. Now you have 4,000-5,000 from about 70-80 countries. The breadth of it, the width of it has increased – the knowledge, the technology, the funding and just the world’s view of people with disabilities. That’s the bigger mission of these Games is to change perspectives of those who maybe stereotype people with disabilities. They now look at us on a different level to see what we can do and compete on a high level athletically. We can perform. And if we can do that then why can’t we hold down a good job or have families or be contributors to society? So it’s always been amount the movement, about changing perceptions.

Q3: What’s it like to know you’re almost done?

KEVIN SZOTT: I want to stay involved and people think it’s easy. It’s not easy to walk away. I’m a competitive person and I think I could still do well for a couple more Games but hey I gotta do this one first because the competition’s gotten a lot tougher…

Q3a): Isn’t that tough talk for somebody who hasn’t hit the mat yet?

KEVIN SZOTT: Exactly. But in the history of the Paralympic Games I’ve only lost twice in all my blind competing…’96 Games, ’98 Worlds, 2000 (Paralympic Games), 2002 (International Blind Sports Association World Judo Championships) and 2003 (IBSA World Championships and Games) and I’ve only been thrown three times.

Q3b): Wait. You’ve only been thrown three times?

KEVIN SZOTT: Only three times. In my history in the Games. And even the World Championships.

Q3c): Can I pay someone to come throw you?

KEVIN SZOTT: (Laughs). That’s it. You can try! But you know, to be perfectly honest, I come into these Games probably the least confident I’ve ever come into a Games just because of my age, because of my life. In 2000, all I focused on was this. Things are different now. I’m in production sales. I’ve got a fiancée and step-daughter living with me. So it’s been tougher and I’ve trained hard, but with all the stress on me, the quality of that training has definitely suffered. But I’m going to see what happens. I’m confident in my abilities, but in Sydney I knew I was going to win. I just knew that no one was going to beat me and this time I’m not coming in as confident. I’m not saying I’m not confident, but I’m not feeling as confident as I did in Sydney, there’s no doubt about it.

Q4: Who’s your toughest competition?

KEVIN SZOTT: Probably mostly myself. I don’t know. I don’t concentrate on any one person until I see the pools, until I see who I have to fight. I don’t worry about who it is or what it is, I just think about the first round and getting past that and seeing who the next person’s gonna be…Stay focused. Play smart. And don’t beat yourself. Just be sure that if they beat you they beat you, not that you give them the opportunity to beat you.

Q4a): Do you have to go completely undefeated to make it to the gold medal match?

KEVIN SZOTT: Yes, if you lose once your done.

Q4b): And then if you lose one…

KEVIN SZOTT: You have a shot at third through the repechage. And it depends. If I lost to someone in the first round and they lose to someone in the second round, I could be out. But as long as the person who beats you makes it into the semis, you make it to the repechage, but my plan isn’t to have to worry about that.

Q5: Ok, so on to the important stuff…Which countries have the best clothes? Who will you trade with?:

KEVIN SZOTT: I like the Aussie stuff usually. I usually trade with the track and field guy down there, Russell Short. On the judo side, I dunno. I haven’t seen all the uniforms yet…the Germans have some good stuff, the Japanese, but ours are pretty darn good. But it’s more tradition to trade, I don’t focus as much on the aesthetic appearance of that stuff.

Q6: Have you and (fellow U.S. judo gold medallist) Scott Moore figured out what you’re doing yet as your final walk-off when you retire? Are you going to do something similar to Rulon Gardner leaving his shoes on the mat?

KEVIN SZOTT: We think because of the sport it would be disrespectful to go back into the middle of the mat, so we may just leave out belts on the side of the mat when we’re done to start a new tradition. We’ll probably leave it on the side by the red area.

Q6a): Would you leave it there permanently or would you go back and get it later?

KEVIN SZOTT: No you leave it there. The theory is you let the next person who’s going to carry the torch pick it up and use it. They may try to give it back to me, I don’t know! (Laughs). But to the best of my knowledge, there’s no tradition, so we’re trying to start one. So they may say, ‘What’re you doing? You forgot your belt!’…but I think [what Rulon did at the Olympic Games] was cool. I’d never seen that before and thought it was a nice way to have kind of a final tribute to the sport. And why not? Why not get recognized for your accomplishments in the arena where you achieved them?

Q7: So have you seen Miracle yet?

KEVIN SZOTT: No. I know the ending; that’s all that matters! It’s kind of like Titanic. It was the same for me. The boat sinks. Why watch the movie?

Q8: Speaking of which…favorite movie?

KEVIN SZOTT: I liked The Rookie. It’s the only time my fiancee’s ever seen me cry during a movie…It’s about a guy who loved baseball as a kid and then he’s coaching this high school team and makes this bet that if they work hard and commit and qualify for the playoffs, he’ll try out for the majors. He goes and tries out and makes the minors, then works his way up to the majors…I’m a happy ending kinda guy.

Q8a): So if you’re a happy ending kind of guy, what’s the happy ending for here now that you’ve already been named flagbearer?

KEVIN SZOTT: Smash everybody and walk off with gold! That’s it.

Q8b): Do you want to carry the flag in closing too now?

KEVIN SZOTT: (Laughs) No! I won’t be here!

Q9: How does it feel to be the flagbearer?

KEVIN SZOTT: It’s really tough and all of these athletes who are here have great resumes. There’s none of these guys here who wouldn’t deserve this honor. It’s just nice for me because you go through this and part of this experience is to open doors and hope you change the general perception, both of athletes in the sport of judo and blind athletes in general and show how much we can achieve. It’s nice to get a sense of recognition that you’ve contributed in your last 27 years in disabled sport and that your fellow athletes recognize that.

Q10: How do you want to be remembered after you retire?

KEVIN SZOTT: I want to be someone who contributed to the movement who helped others. Somebody who was a good athlete but worked hard to get what he got. It wasn’t just a natural thing like I just showed up and won. I worked hard. I showed up in shape. I showed up ready to go and I was respectful of all my opponents in victory and in defeat. I would want people to think I’m a class act.

Q11: Who in sports today would you say truly exudes class?

KEVIN SZOTT: First one that comes to mind is Tiger Woods. He’s a class act. Knowing all the different circumstances he’s been under in his life; he’s always turned the other cheek and kept his shoulders straight and been a straight forward kind of guy. He never makes excuses when he loses and he’s gracious in defeat and humble in victory. I’ve never seen him act like a spoiled brat. He just lets things roll off his shoulders. Going to the Olympic side of things, I think Rulon’s a class act. He’s a great guy and when he lost in the semis he didn’t cry about it and he was disappointed as any athlete would be, but he said you live by it and you die by it and that’s wrestling. It’s the same thing that happens in judo. You live by it and you die by IT.