2008 Summer Paralympics national flag bearers

During the Parade of Nations at the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Paralympic Games, athletes from each participating country paraded in the stadium, preceded by their flag. The flag was borne by a sportsperson from that country chosen either by the National Paralympic Committee or by the athletes themselves to represent their country. It is considered a great honour to bear the country's flag in the Parade of Nations.

Parade order

Per tradition, the host country, in this case the People's Republic of China, marched last however contrary to tradition in the Olympic Games the national team of Greece did not enter first. All other nations marched in name order in the language of the host nation, which in this case is the Chinese language. As Chinese is written in characters and not letters, the order of the teams' entry was determined by the number of strokes in the first character of their respective countries' Simplified Chinese names.[1] Countries with the same number of strokes in the first character are sorted by those of the next character. This made Guinea (几内亚) the first country to enter, as it takes two strokes to write the first character in the country's name (几), and Zambia (赞比亚) last-but-one, ahead of China.

List

The following is a list of each country's flag bearer. The list is sorted in Latin alphabetical order.

Nation Flag bearer Sport
 Afghanistan (AFG) Mohammad Fahim Rahimi Powerlifting
 Algeria (ALG) Mohamed Allek Athletics
 Angola (ANG) Jose Armando Athletics
 Argentina (ARG) Silvio Velo Football 5-A-Side
 Armenia (ARM) Greta Khndzrtsyan Powerlifting
 Australia (AUS) Russell Short Athletics
 Austria (AUT) Christoph Etzlstorfer Athletics
 Azerbaijan (AZE) Ilham Zakiyev Judo
 Bahrain (BRN) Ahmed Meshaimaa Athletics
 Bangladesh (BAN) Abdul Quader Sumon Athletics
 Barbados (BAR) David Taylor Swimming
 Belarus (BLR) Ihar Fartunau Athletics
 Belgium (BEL) Nico Vergeylen Table Tennis
 Benin (BEN) Blandine Sahenou Powerlifting
 Bermuda (BER) Jennifer Southern Secretary General of the Bermudian National Paralympic Committee
 Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH) Sabahudin Delalić Sitting Volleyball
 Brazil (BRA) Antonio Tenorio Silva Judo
 Bulgaria (BUL) Stela Eneva Athletics
 Burkina Faso (BUR) Lassane Gasbeogo Cycling
 Burundi (BDI) Remy Nikobimeze Athletics
 Cambodia (CAM) Vanna Kim Athletics
 Canada (CAN) Donovan Tildesley Swimming
 Cape Verde (CPV) Artimeza Helena Sequiera Athletics
 Central African Republic (CAF) Rosel-Clemariot-Christian Nikona Athletics
 Chile (CHI) Robinson Mendez Wheelchair Tennis
 China (CHN) Wang Xiaofu Swimming
 Chinese Taipei (TPE) Hou Ting-Sung Table Tennis
 Colombia (COL) Moises Fuentes Swimming
 Costa Rica (CRC) Giovanny Rodriguez Table Tennis
 Ivory Coast (CIV) Oumar Basakoulba Kone Athletics
 Croatia (CRO) Marija Ivekovic Athletics
 Cuba (CUB) Yunidis Castillo Athletics
 Cyprus (CYP) Karolina Pelentritou Swimming
 Czech Republic (CZE) Marketa Sidkova Archery
 Denmark (DEN) Jackie Christiansen Athletics
 Dominican Republic (DOM) Alfonso Olibero Encarnacion Athletics
 Ecuador (ECU) Jose Marino Powerlifting
 Egypt (EGY) Metwaly Ibrahim Mathna Powerlifting
 El Salvador (ESA) Zulma Cruz Athletics
 Estonia (EST) Kristo Ringas Swimming
 Ethiopia (ETH) Tesfalem Gebru Athletics
 Faroe Islands (FRO) Heidi Andreasen Swimming
 Fiji (FIJ) Ranjesh Prakash Athletics
 Finland (FIN) Minna Leinonen Shooting
 France (FRA) Assia El Hannouni Athletics
 Gabon (GAB) Thierry Mabicka Athletics
 Georgia (GEO) Yago Gorgadze Powerlifting
 Germany (GER) Conny Dietz Goalball
 Ghana (GHA) Nkegbe Botsyo Athletics
 Great Britain (GBR) Danny Crates Athletics
 Greece (GRE) Charalampos Taiganidis Swimming
 Guatemala (GUA) Cesar Arturo Lopez Ivajera Athletics
 Guinea (GUI) ? ?[2]
 Haiti (HAI) Nephtalie Jean Louis Powerlifting
 Honduras (HON) Luis Carlos Hernandez Oliva Athletics
 Hong Kong (HKG) So Wa Wai Athletics
 Hungary (HUN) Judit Horvathne Palfi Wheelchair Fencing
 Iceland (ISL) Jon Oddur Haldorsson Athletics
 India (IND) Rajinder Singh Rahelu Powerlifting
 Indonesia (INA) Billy Zeth Makal Powerlifting
 Iraq (IRQ) Faris Al-Ajeeli Powerlifting
 Ireland (IRL) Patrice Dockery Athletics
 Iran (IRI) Mohammad Reza Mirzaei Athletics
 Israel (ISR) Yizhar Cohen Swimming
 Italy (ITA) Francesca Porcellato Athletics
 Jamaica (JAM) Tanto Campbell Athletics
 Japan (JPN) Toru Suzuki Athletics
 Jordan (JOR) Jamil Elshebli Athletics
 Kazakhstan (KAZ) Liazat Salimzenova Powerlifting
 Kenya (KEN) Henry Wanyioke Athletics
 South Korea (KOR) Park Jong-Chul Powerlifting
 Kuwait (KUW) Hamad Aladwani Athletics
 Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) Roman Omurbekov Powerlifting
 Laos (LAO) Eay Simay Powerlifting
 Latvia (LAT) Edgars Bergs Athletics
 Lebanon (LIB) Edward Maalouf Cycling
 Lesotho (LES) Thato Mohasoa Athletics
 Lithuania (LTU) Rolandas Urbonas Athletics
 Luxembourg (LUX) Peter Lorkowski Cycling
 Libya (LBA) Sahar Mostafa M El Gnemi Powerlifting
 Macau (MAC) Kuong Sio Ieng Athletics
 Macedonia (MKD) Vanco Karanfilov Shooting
 Madagascar (MAD) Josefa Harijaona Randrianony Swimming
 Malaysia (MAS) Mariappan Perumsl Powerlifting
 Mali (MLI) Sissoko Facourou Powerlifting
 Malta (MLT) Atonio Flores Athletics
 Mauritius (MRI) Richard Souci Athletics
 Mexico (MEX) Saul Mendoza Athletics
 Moldova (MDA) Larisa Marinenkova Powerlifting
 Mongolia (MGL) Bazarsuren Choyondorj Judo
 Montenegro (MNE) Dusan Dragovic Swimming
 Morocco (MAR) Abdelilah Mame Athletics
 Myanmar (MYA) Myint Win Athletics
 Namibia (NAM) Reginald Benade Athletics
 Nepal (NEP) Jit Bahadur Khadka Athletics
 Netherlands (NED) Esther Vergeer Wheelchair Tennis
 New Zealand (NZL) Sholto Taylor Wheelchair Rugby
 Niger (NIG) Zakari Amadou Powerlifting
 Nigeria (NGR) Adekunle Adesoji Athletics
 Norway (NOR) Cecilie Drabsch-Norland Swimming
 Oman (OMA) Badar al-Harthi Powerlifting
 Pakistan (PAK) Haider Ali Athletics
 Palestine (PLE) Husam Azzam Athletics
 Panama (PAN) Said Gomez Athletics
 Papua New Guinea (PNG) Francis Kompaon Athletics
 Peru (PER) Jose Gonzales-Mugaburu Swimming
 Philippines (PHI) Adeline Dumapong-Ancheta Powerlifting
 Poland (POL) Krzysztof Smorszczewski Athletics
 Portugal (POR) Filomena Franco Rowing
 Puerto Rico (PUR) Nilda Gomez Lopez Shooting
 Qatar (QAT) Ali Abdulla Mohamed Powerlifting
 Romania (ROU) Eduard Novak Cycling
 Russia (RUS) Alexey Ashapatov Athletics
 Rwanda (RWA) Jean de Dieu Nkundabera Athletics
 Samoa (SAM) Mose Faatamala Athletics
 Saudi Arabia (KSA) Osamah Alshanqiti Athletics
 Senegal (SEN) Nidiaye Mor Athletics
 Serbia (SRB) Zlatko Kesler Table tennis
 Singapore (SIN) Rui Si Theresa Goh Swimming
 Slovakia (SVK) Ladislav Gaspar Table tennis
 Slovenia (SLO) Franc Pinter Shooting
 South Africa (RSA) Natalie du Toit Swimming
 Spain (ESP) David Casinos Athletics
 Sri Lanka (SRI) Sandun Wasana Perera Powerlifting
 Suriname (SUR) Biondi Misasi Athletics
 Sweden (SWE) Anders Olsson Swimming
 Switzerland (SUI) Heinz Frei Athletics / Cycling
 Syria (SYR) Rasha Alshikh Powerlifting
 Tajikistan (TJK) Khayrullo Abdurahimov Powerlifting
 Tanzania (TAN) Ernest Nyabalale Athletics
 Thailand (THA) Supachai Koysub Athletics
 Timor-Leste (TLS) Liliana da Costa Silva Powerlifting
 Tonga (TGA) Mounga Okusitino Athletics
 Tunisia (TUN) Ahmed Benhaj Ali Athletics
 Turkey (TUR) Korhan Yamac Shooting
 Turkmenistan (TKM) Ovezgeldy Ordjiyev Powerlifting
 Uganda (UGA) Billy Ssengendo Powerlifting
 Ukraine (UKR) Andrii Komar Wheelchair Fencing
 United Arab Emirates (UAE) Abdullah al Aryani Shooting
 United States (USA) Jennifer Armbruster Goalball
 Uruguay (URU) Henry Borges Judo
 Uzbekistan (UZB) Ravil Diganshin Athletics / Powerlifting
 Vanuatu (VAN) Tom Tete Powerlifting
 Venezuela (VEN) Reinaldo Carvallo Judo
 Vietnam (VIE) Nguyen Quang Vuong Swimming
 Zambia (ZAM) Lassam Katongo Athletics
 Zimbabwe (ZIM) Elliot Mujaji Athletics

See also

Sources

References

  1. "Opening Ceremony plan released - The Official Website of the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games". Archived from the original on 6 September 2008. Retrieved 6 September 2008.
  2. Guinea was, it seems, initially not due to take part in the athletes' parade, and is not included in the IPC's list. However, a small Guinean delegation did take part in the athletes' parade, entering the stadium before any other national delegation. It is not known at present who carried Guinea's flag.
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