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 languages of the Olympics, which also happened to be the official languages of the host nation. The nations entered in alphabetic order of their country names in English because it is the more dominant of the two languages in Vancouver and in the province of British Columbia.
Of the flag-bearers who led their respective delegations, all but one were athletes, the exception being Fuad Guliyev, a skating official from Azerbaijan. The sport which was most represented among the flag-bearers was alpine skiing, as alpine skiers led 26 delegations. Only one delegation was led by a short track speed skater, Hong Kong, led by Han Yue Shueng.[1] Marjan Kalhor, an alpine skier and the flag-bearer for Iran, was both the first female flag bearer from her country and the first female athlete from her country to participate in the Winter Olympics.[2] It was erroneously pointed out by a Canadian TV commentator that Tomomi Okazaki was the first female flag bearer for Japan. This title goes to Seiko Hashimoto in Calgary 1988. Other prominent flag bearers included Canadian speed skater and five-time Olympian Clara Hughes, American luger Mark Grimmette, who had helped carry the American flag during the 2002 Winter Olympics, and Czech hockey player Jaromir Jagr. Hughes is the only Olympian ever to win multiple medals at both the Summer and Winter Olympics.[3]
Order |
Nation |
Flag bearer |
Sport |
1 |
Greece (GRE) |
Tsakiris, AthanassiosAthanassios Tsakiris[5] |
Biathlon |
2 |
Albania (ALB) |
Tola, ErjonErjon Tola |
Alpine skiing |
3 |
Algeria (ALG) |
Khelifi, Mehdi-SelimMehdi-Selim Khelifi |
Cross-country skiing |
4 |
Andorra (AND) |
Tarroch, Lluis MarinLluis Marin Tarroch[6] |
Snowboarding |
5 |
Argentina (ARG) |
Simari Birkner, Cristian JavierCristian Javier Simari Birkner[7] |
Alpine skiing |
6 |
Armenia (ARM) |
Nersisyan, ArsenArsen Nersisyan[8] |
Alpine skiing |
7 |
Australia (AUS) |
Bright, TorahTorah Bright[9] |
Snowboarding |
8 |
Austria (AUT) |
Linger, AndreasAndreas Linger & Wolfgang Linger |
Luge |
9 |
Azerbaijan (AZE) |
Guliyev, FuadFuad Guliyev[10] |
Skating official |
10 |
Belarus (BLR) |
Antonenko, OlegOleg Antonenko[11] |
Ice hockey |
11 |
Belgium (BEL) |
van der Perren, KevinKevin van der Perren[12] |
Figure skating |
12 |
Bermuda (BER) |
Murphy, TuckerTucker Murphy[13] |
Cross-country skiing |
13 |
Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) |
Novaković, ŽanaŽana Novaković[14] |
Alpine skiing |
14 |
Brazil (BRA) |
Clark Ribeiro, IsabelIsabel Clark Ribeiro |
Snowboarding |
15 |
Bulgaria (BUL) |
Zhekova, AleksandraAleksandra Zhekova[15] |
Snowboarding |
16 |
Cayman Islands (CAY) |
Travers, DowDow Travers |
Alpine skiing |
17 |
Chile (CHI) |
Mandrú, JorgeJorge Mandrú |
Alpine skiing |
18 |
China (CHN) |
Han Xiaopeng |
Freestyle skiing |
19 |
Colombia (COL) |
Denzler, CynthiaCynthia Denzler |
Alpine skiing |
20 |
Croatia (CRO) |
Fak, JakovJakov Fak |
Biathlon |
21 |
Cyprus (CYP) |
Papamichalopoulos, ChristopherChristopher Papamichalopoulos |
Alpine skiing |
22 |
Czech Republic (CZE) |
Jágr, JaromírJaromír Jágr[11] |
Ice hockey |
23 |
North Korea (PRK) (Dem. People's Rep. of Korea) |
Ri Song-Chol |
Figure skating |
24 |
Denmark (DEN) |
Fjellvang-Sølling, SophieSophie Fjellvang-Sølling |
Freestyle skiing |
25 |
Estonia (EST) |
Lessing, RolandRoland Lessing[16] |
Biathlon |
26 |
Ethiopia (ETH) |
Teklemariam, RobelRobel Teklemariam |
Cross-country skiing |
27 |
Finland (FIN) |
Peltonen, VilleVille Peltonen[17] |
Ice hockey |
28 |
Macedonia (MKD) (Former Yugoslav Rep. of Macedonia) |
Ristevski, AntonioAntonio Ristevski[18] |
Alpine skiing |
29 |
France (FRA) |
Defrasne, VincentVincent Defrasne[19] |
Biathlon |
30 |
Georgia (GEO) |
Abramashvili, IasonIason Abramashvili |
Alpine skiing |
31 |
Germany (GER) |
Lange, AndréAndré Lange[20] |
Bobsleigh |
32 |
Ghana (GHA) |
Nkrumah-Acheampong, KwameKwame Nkrumah-Acheampong |
Alpine skiing |
33 |
Great Britain (GBR) |
Rudman, ShelleyShelley Rudman[21] |
Skeleton |
34 |
Hong Kong (HKG) |
Han Yue Shueng |
Short track speed skating |
35 |
Hungary (HUN) |
Sebestyén, JúliaJúlia Sebestyén[22] |
Figure skating |
36 |
Iceland (ISL) |
Björgvinsson, BjörgvinBjörgvin Björgvinsson |
Alpine skiing |
37 |
India (IND) |
Keshavan, ShivaShiva Keshavan[23] |
Luge |
38 |
Iran (IRI) (Islamic Rep. of Iran) |
Kalhor, MarjanMarjan Kalhor |
Alpine skiing |
39 |
Ireland (IRL) |
Hoey, AoifeAoife Hoey[24] |
Bobsleigh |
40 |
Israel (ISR) |
Zaretsky, AlexandraAlexandra Zaretsky[25] |
Figure skating |
41 |
Italy (ITA) |
Di Centa, GiorgioGiorgio Di Centa[26] |
Cross-country skiing |
42 |
Jamaica (JAM) |
Kerr, ErrolErrol Kerr |
Freestyle skiing |
43 |
Japan (JPN) |
Okazaki, TomomiTomomi Okazaki[27] |
Speed skating |
44 |
Kazakhstan (KAZ) |
Keneshev, DiasDias Keneshev[28] |
Biathlon |
45 |
South Korea (KOR) (Rep. of Korea) |
Kang Kwang-Bae |
Bobsleigh |
46 |
Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) |
Trelevski, DmitryDmitry Trelevski |
Alpine skiing |
47 |
Latvia (LAT) |
Dukurs, MartinsMartins Dukurs[29] |
Skeleton |
48 |
Lebanon (LIB) |
Njeim, ChirineChirine Njeim[30] |
Alpine skiing |
49 |
Liechtenstein (LIE) |
Wunder, RichardRichard Wunder[31] |
Bobsleigh |
50 |
Lithuania (LTU) |
Terentjeva, IrinaIrina Terentjeva |
Cross-country skiing |
51 |
Mexico (MEX) |
Hohenlohe, Hubertus vonHubertus von Hohenlohe |
Alpine skiing |
52 |
Moldova (MDA) |
Pinzaru, VictorVictor Pinzaru[32] |
Biathlon |
53 |
Monaco (MON) |
Coletti, AlexandraAlexandra Coletti |
Alpine skiing |
54 |
Mongolia (MGL) |
Ochirsuren, Erdene-OchirErdene-Ochir Ochirsuren |
Cross-country skiing |
55 |
Montenegro (MNE) |
Kosić, BojanBojan Kosić |
Alpine skiing |
56 |
Morocco (MAR) |
Azzimani, SamirSamir Azzimani |
Alpine skiing |
57 |
Nepal (NEP) |
Sherpa, DachhiriDachhiri Sherpa |
Cross-country skiing |
58 |
Netherlands (NED) |
Beck, TimothyTimothy Beck[33] |
Bobsleigh |
59 |
New Zealand (NZL) |
Bray, JulianeJuliane Bray[34] |
Snowboarding |
60 |
Norway (NOR) |
Jakobsen, TommyTommy Jakobsen[35] |
Ice hockey |
61 |
Pakistan (PAK) |
Abbas, MuhammadMuhammad Abbas |
Alpine skiing |
62 |
Peru (PER) |
Carcelén, RobertoRoberto Carcelén[36] |
Cross-country skiing |
63 |
Poland (POL) |
Niedźwiedzki, KonradKonrad Niedźwiedzki[37] |
Speed skating |
64 |
Portugal (POR) |
Silva, DannyDanny Silva |
Cross-country skiing |
65 |
Romania (ROU) |
Tófalvi, ÉvaÉva Tófalvi |
Biathlon |
66 |
Russia (RUS) (Russian Federation) |
Morozov, AlekseyAleksey Morozov[38] |
Ice hockey |
67 |
San Marino (SMR) |
Cardelli, MarinoMarino Cardelli[39] |
Alpine skiing |
68 |
Senegal (SEN) |
Seck, LeytiLeyti Seck |
Alpine skiing |
69 |
Serbia (SRB) |
Lolović, JelenaJelena Lolović[40] |
Alpine skiing |
70 |
Slovakia (SVK) |
Pálffy, ŽigmundŽigmund Pálffy[11] |
Ice hockey |
71 |
Slovenia (SLO) |
Maze, TinaTina Maze |
Alpine skiing |
72 |
South Africa (RSA) |
Kraas, OliverOliver Kraas |
Cross-country skiing |
73 |
Spain (ESP) |
Castellet, QueraltQueralt Castellet |
Snowboarding |
74 |
Sweden (SWE) |
Forsberg, PeterPeter Forsberg |
Ice hockey |
75 |
Switzerland (SUI) |
Lambiel, StéphaneStéphane Lambiel[41] |
Figure skating |
76 |
Chinese Taipei (TPE) |
Ma Chih-hung |
Luge |
77 |
Tajikistan (TJK) |
Kudratov, AlisherAlisher Kudratov |
Alpine skiing |
78 |
Turkey (TUR) |
Aydın, KelimeKelime Aydın[42] |
Cross-country skiing |
79 |
Ukraine (UKR) |
Ludan, LiliyaLiliya Ludan[43] |
Luge |
80 |
United States (USA) |
Grimmette, MarkMark Grimmette[44] |
Luge |
81 |
Uzbekistan (UZB) |
Shamaev, OlegOleg Shamaev |
Alpine skiing |
82 |
Canada (CAN) |
Hughes, ClaraClara Hughes[45] |
Speed skating |