"Parade of the Athletes Parade of the Athletes is a retrospective mix by Dutch DJ Tiësto of his live set performed during the opening ceremony of the 2004 Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece on 13 August 2004 (see 2004 in music). This was the first time that a DJ was asked to perform for a ceremony at the Olympics. Recognizing one of their own, the Dutch team came up to the booth while Tiësto was performing this set. All of the songs on this track are original songs composed by Tiësto except for ""Adagio for Strings"", which is his"
"some of his classmates during the earthquake. Each country's delegation is led by a sign with the name of their country and by their nation's flag. Traditionally, Greece always enters first and leads the parade because of its historical status as the progenitor of the Olympics, and the host nation enters last. All other participating teams enter after Greece and before the host nation, in order according to a language selected by the organizing committee for those games, which is usually the dominant language in the area of the host city. Announcers announce each country's name in English, French and"
"with Greece first, the rest of the nations proceeding by Norwegian alphabetical order, with the host nation last. The British, Australian, Canadian and New Zealand teams all wore black arm bands at the opening ceremonies in memory of their monarch. After the parade of nations the Olympic flame was lit. On 13 February, at the start of the inaugural Winter Olympics torch relay, the torch was lit in the hearth of the Morgedal House, birthplace of skiing pioneer Sondre Norheim. The torch relay lasted two days and took place entirely on skis. At the opening ceremonies the final torch bearer,"
"the beginning of the ceremony proper. The national flag of China was then raised, in accordance with usual protocol, and the national anthem of China performed. Performers wearing suits in bright colours paraded round the stadium, as a welcoming ceremony preceding the athletes' entry. As with the 2008 Summer Olympics, the ceremony included a parade of nations, with a flag bearer for each national team. Contrary to Olympic tradition, the national team of Greece did not enter first, as the Paralympic Games traces its roots to Stoke Mandeville rather than Olympia; the host country, as is customary in both Olympic"
"2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations During the 2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations at the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, beginning at 20:00 KST () on 9 February 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Pyeongchang Olympic Stadium in the host city of Pyeongchang, South Korea. 92 teams qualified to compete (91 nations and Olympic Athletes from Russia). Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by Olympic tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, the Greek team entered first. Other teams entered in alphabetical order based on"
"2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations portion of the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country paraded in the Olympic Stadium preceded by their flag. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. The teams walked to the sound of iconic British modern music. Greece was entered first, as the nation of the ancient and first modern Olympic Games. The host nation Great Britain (as the United Kingdom is known at the Games) marched last. Other countries entered in"
"of the parade as ""United States"" in English. The IOC refused NBC's request, as it runs contrary to the Olympic rules stating that nations enter in the alphabetical order of the language of the host country. 2016 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations within the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country marched in the Maracanã Stadium preceded by their flag and placard bearer. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. In keeping with Olympic traditions, Greece,"
"1988 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1988 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation South Korea marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (Korean), according with tradition"
"Announcers in the stadium read off the names of the marching nations in Greek, French, and English (the official languages of the Olympics) with the music, performed and played by Dutch musician Tiësto, accompanying the athletes as they marched into the stadium. Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: Three-time Grand Slam champion and tennis player Roger Federer (Switzerland), NBA basketball player Yao Ming (People's Republic of China), six-time Olympians and Star sailors Colin Beashel (Australia) and Torben Grael (Brazil), triple Olympic weightlifting champion Pyrros Dimas (Greece), show jumper Ludger Beerbaum (Germany), two-time Olympic sprint freestyle"
"2014 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2014 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held beginning at 20:14 MST () on 7 February 2014, 88 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Fisht Olympic Stadium in the host city of Sochi, Russia. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, Greece entered first. The Russian team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in French, followed by English and finally Russian,"
"also the ""Independent Olympic Athletes"") was led, according to custom, by the Greek team, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order, and finally the host nation Great Britain. Each of the 205 teams entered the stadium led by their flagbearer, accompanied by a child volunteer carrying a copper petal (later revealed to be part of the cauldron) and a young woman carrying a sign with the country's name in English (and wearing a dress made from fabric printed with photos of people who had applied to be Olympic volunteers). The parade was accompanied by mainly British dance tracks and"
"the London 2012 Olympic Games opening ceremony, when each country's team proceeds in alphabetical order in English (the host country's language), the Chinese Taipei (TPE) team did not follow China (CHN), but instead took a place in the procession as if its name were ""Taipei"" or Taiwan, following Syria and preceding Tajikistan instead. In Beijing 2008 it followed Japan and preceded the Central African Republic. This ordering was based on the stroke number and order of each team's name in simplified Chinese, the official script in the PRC. Other East Asian nations have also had to make unique translation decisions."
"bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport. 2017 Asian Winter Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2017 Asian Winter Games opening ceremony, held on 19 February 2017, 30 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Sapporo Dome in the host city of Sapporo, Japan. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. The Japanese team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first"
"2017 Asian Winter Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2017 Asian Winter Games opening ceremony, held on 19 February 2017, 30 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded into the Sapporo Dome in the host city of Sapporo, Japan. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. The Japanese team entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in Japanese and then English. The latter being the official language of the Olympic Council of Asia and the former being"
"television audiences were shown a version that had been recorded the previous December. During the opening ceremony the organizing committee was a victim of a cyber attack, but without major consequences. The Parade of Nations was led, according to custom due to hosting the original ancient Olympics, by the Greek team, followed by other competing countries in alphabetical order based on their names in the Korean language, with the host country, South Korea, concluding the march. The delegations from both the host nation South Korea and North Korea (Korea at the 2018 Winter Olympics) marched under the Korean unification flag."
"their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade. This is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the CGF. The first team to enter the stadium was India, host of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, maintaining the tradition of the immediate previous host nation entering first. 2014 Commonwealth Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2014 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, held on 23 July 2014, 71 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations lead their national delegations as they paraded"
"1988 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1988 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in English, one of the official languages in Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Organizers played Happy Birthday to You during Australian team march as a homage to Australia which was"
"celebrating Bicentenary event at that time. 1988 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1988 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in English, one of the official languages in Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as the host nation. Organizers played Happy Birthday to You during Australian team march as"
"of the 1928 Games); Dubai; Lagos; Shanghai; Florida; and the city of Rio de Janeiro itself. After that, the delegations representing 207 nations then marched into the stadium during the Parade of Nations traditionally led by Greece, the home of the first Olympics. The crowd gave large applause for other Latin American nations as well as notably Spain, the USA, Canada, Portugal, and Russia. However, the biggest applause (aside from the host nation) came when the team of Refugee Athletes marched into the stadium just ahead of the Brazilian team. They received a standing ovation from the crowd. The Brazilian"
"2000 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations portion of the 2000 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of Australia marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (English), according with tradition"
"Azamat Zheltyrguzov while the flag was risen. According to the Olympic Council of Asia's protocols, countries will march in order of their IOC Code. Below is list of countries that are confirmed to compete and their national flagbearers during the ceremony. All the countries were given warm receptions by the crowd, however a deafening welcoming roar was given to the home team. Kazakh opera diva Nurzhamal Usenbaeva then performed a song specially composed for the Games opening an impressive show that involved more than 700 actors and dancers including Belgian singer Lara Fabian singing her new song ""Always"". Also included"
"from the Games. Egypt was the only exception because they had decided not to march at the opening ceremony. 1976 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations section of the 1976 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from the participating countries marched into the arena. Each delegation was led by a flag bearer and a sign with the name of the country on it. The Parade of Nations was organized in French, the main language of Quebec province of Canada. As tradition dictates, Greece led the parade and Canada was the last to march to the stadium as"
"2010 Winter Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations at the 2010 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, held beginning at 6:00 PM PST on February 12, 2010, 82 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into BC Place Stadium in the host city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Athletes entered the stadium in an order dictated by tradition. As the originator of the Olympics, Greece entered first. Canadian delegates entered last, representing the host nation. The names of the nations were announced first in French and followed by English, the official"
"since Greece was the host nation, they went last, sending only their flag with the weightlifter Pyrros Dimas as the flag bearer into the stadium at the beginning of the parade, and the athletes themselves at the end of it. The debut position was given to Saint Lucia (Αγία Λουκία in Greek), who led the Parade of Nations into the stadium. As the nations entered in Greek alphabetical order, Zimbabwe—which has usually been the penultimate nation, followed only by the host country—appeared in the middle of the parade. Countries such as the United States and Switzerland, which are usually at"
"the flag bearer's sport. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC. 1992 Summer Olympics national flag bearers During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1992 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation Spain marched last. Other countries entered"
"2018 Commonwealth Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2018 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, held on 4 April 2018, 71 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into Carrara Stadium in the host city of Gold Coast, Australia. Following tradition, the host of the previous games, Scotland enters first, followed by the rest of the European countries competing. Following this, all countries parade in alphabetical order from their respective regions. After the European countries enter, countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, and lastly Oceania march in."
"is sortable by country name, flag bearer's name, or flag bearer's sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the IOC. 2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations portion of the London 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony, athletes and officials from each participating country paraded in the Olympic Stadium preceded by their flag. Each flag bearer had been chosen either by the nation's National Olympic Committee or by the athletes themselves. The teams walked to the sound of iconic British modern music. Greece was entered first, as the nation of the ancient and first"
"sport. Names are given in the form officially designated by the OCA. 2018 Asian Games Parade of Nations During the 2018 Asian Games Parade of Nations at the 2018 Asian Games opening ceremony, beginning at 19:00 WIB () on 18 August 2018, athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in the co-host city of Jakarta, Indonesia. 44 teams marched in (43 nations and the Unified Korea team). Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag bearer, in the same order as the parade."
"were arranged according to Greek alphabet making Finland, Fiji, Chile, and Hong Kong the last four to enter the stadium before the Greek delegation. On this occasion, in observance of the tradition that the delegation of Greece opens the parade and the host nation closes it, the Greek flag bearer opened the parade and all the Greek delegation closed it. Based on audience reaction, the emotional high point of the parade was the entrance of the delegation from Afghanistan which had been absent from the Olympics and had female competitors for the first time. The Iraqi delegation also stirred emotions."
"team conventionally coming last. Over 5,600 uniformed and plain-clothes Taiwanese police, including Military police armed with rifles, were present to ensure the smooth running of the opening ceremony. During the closing ceremony, athletes from Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Denmark, Dominican Republic and the United Kingdom thanked Taiwan by carrying banners, Republic of China flags and wigs with the colours of the ROC flag. A day after the Closing Ceremony, Argentinian athletes were given an official warning by FISU for bringing flags of the Republic of China into the stadium as they marched in the parade of nations in the closing ceremony."
"the official language of the host nation: Japan. The nations were scheduled to enter in alphabetic order of their country names in Japanese, as per regulations. However the nations marched in English alphabetical order. In September 2016, it was announced athletes from Oceania were invited to compete. Countries from Oceania (Australia and New Zealand) are not deemed as official competitors, however. The Kuwait Olympic Committee was suspended in October 2015, due to political interference. Therefore, the country is scheduled to compete under the Olympic flag as ""Independent Olympic Athletes"". Below is a list of parading countries and their announced flag"
"CGF. 2018 Commonwealth Games Parade of Nations During the Parade of Nations at the 2018 Commonwealth Games opening ceremony, held on 4 April 2018, 71 athletes bearing the flags of their respective nations led their national delegations as they paraded into Carrara Stadium in the host city of Gold Coast, Australia. Following tradition, the host of the previous games, Scotland enters first, followed by the rest of the European countries competing. Following this, all countries parade in alphabetical order from their respective regions. After the European countries enter, countries from Africa, the Americas, Asia, the Caribbean, and lastly Oceania march"
"the host nation's flag bringing up the rear. Behind them march all of the athletes without any distinction or grouping by nationality. This ""Parade of Athletes,"" the blending of all the athletes, is a tradition that began during the 1956 Summer Olympics at the suggestion of Melbourne schoolboy John Ian Wing, who thought it would be a way of bringing the athletes of the world together as ""one nation."" Prior to the 1956 Games, no Olympic Team had ever marched in the closing ceremony of the Modern or the Ancient Games. It was the very first International Peace March ever"