Posted February 22, 2018 18:33:00

Photo: Jarryd Hughes has been rewarded for his snowboard cross silver medal. (AP: Gregory Bull)

A snowboarder carried the Australian flag at the Winter Olympics opening ceremony, and a snowboarder will lead the team into the Pyeongchang Olympic stadium for Sunday's closing ceremony.

Snowboard cross silver medallist Jarryd Hughes has been rewarded for his performance at the Games, and will carry the flag for the closing ceremony, following snowboard halfpipe star Scotty James, who led the way in the opening ceremony before winning bronze behind American superstar Shaun White.

"It is the cherry on top of what has been the most amazing Olympic campaign and I am so proud to lead out this group of Australian athletes who have all been both an inspiration to me and the entire country throughout the Games," Hughes said.

Australia has won three medals at this Winter Olympics — equalling the record set at Vancouver in 2010 and Sochi four years ago — and Hughes joined moguls skier Matt Graham as the two competitors to win silver medals in Pyeongchang.

"The bond between the Australian team at these Games has been phenomenal," he said.

"We have all been supporting one another and doing our best to show the world how proud we are to be Aussie Winter athletes."

The Games have seen a shift in Australia's team performance. In Sochi, the medallists were aged 32, 29 and 27. This time around they were 23 (Graham), 23 (James) and 22 (Hughes).

"I still can't quite believe I am an Olympic silver medallist. I'm sure it's going to take a little while to sink in," Hughes said.

"It's a huge inspiration to keep pushing towards my, hopefully, third Olympic Games in Beijing 2022."

The closing ceremony will be held on Sunday night, starting at 10pm (AEDT).

Topics: sport, winter-olympics, snow-boarding, korea-republic-of, australia