1996 Summer Olympics national flag bearers


During the Parade of Nations portion of the 1996 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.

Parade order

As the nation of the first modern Olympic Games, Greece entered the stadium first; whereas, the host nation of the United States marched last. Other countries entered in alphabetical order in the language of the host country, according with tradition and IOC guidelines.
Whilst most countries entered under their short names, a few entered under more formal or alternative names, mostly due to political and naming disputes. Macedonia entered as "Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia'" because of the naming dispute with Greece. The Republic of China entered with the compromised name and flag of "Chinese Taipei" under T so that they did not enter together with conflicting People's Republic of China, which entered as the "People's Republic of China" under C. The Republic of the Congo entered as just "Congo" while the Democratic Republic of Congo entered under its former name, Zaire. Iran, Moldova, Laos, Brunei and the United States all entered under their formal names, respectively "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Republic of Moldova", "Lao People's Democratic Republic", "Brunei Darussalam" and "United States of America".
A record of 197 nations entered the stadium with a combined total of 10,318 athletes. Twenty-three nations made their Olympic debut, including ten of the former Soviet republics, namely Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, and Uzbekistan, that had previously competed as part of the Unified Team in 1992 and Soviet Union before that. Russia competed independently for the first time since 1912. Czech Republic and Slovakia attended the Games independently for the first time since the breakup of Czechoslovakia in 1993, whereas Cambodia returned officially after its 24-year absence under the Khmer Republic.
Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: weightlifter Pyrros Dimas ; eventing rider Andrew Hoy ; nine-time Olympian and Star sailor Hubert Raudaschl ; 1984 Olympic middle-distance champion Joaquim Cruz in the 800 metres; track sprinters Charmaine Crooks and Marie-José Pérec ; defending Olympic long-distance champions Derartu Tulu and Khalid Skah, both in the 10,000 metres; fencers Arnd Schmitt, Bence Szabó, and Giovanna Trillini ; rowing legend Steve Redgrave ; swimmers Raimundas Mažuolis in sprint freestyle and Rafał Szukała in the butterfly; windsurfer Barbara Kendall ; hurdler and world champion Brigita Bukovec ; defending Olympic champions Jan-Ove Waldner in men's table tennis singles, and Andrey Abduvaliyev in the hammer throw; pole vaulter and world record holder Sergey Bubka ; and super heavyweight wrestlers Alexander Karelin in Greco-Roman, and Bruce Baumgartner in freestyle.

List

The following is a list of each country's announced flag bearer. The list is sorted by the order in which each nation appears in the parade of nations. The names are given in their official designations by the IOC.
OrderCountryFlag bearerSport
1Pyrros DimasWeightlifting
2Muhamed AmanBoxing
3Mirela ManjaniAthletics
4Karim El-MahouabHandball
5Maselino MasoeBoxing
6Aitor OsorioSwimming
7Palmira de AlmeidaHandball
8Heather SamuelAthletics
9Carolina MarianiJudo
10Aghvan GrigoryanWeightlifting
11Isnardo FaroWeightlifting
12Andrew HoyEquestrian
13Hubert RaudaschlSailing
14Nazim HuseynovJudo
15Frank RutherfordAthletics
16Mohamed Al-SalaSailing
17Saiful AlamShooting
18Obadele ThompsonAthletics
19Aleksey MedvedevWrestling
20Jean-Michel SaiveTable tennis
21Eugène MuslarAthletics
22Laure KueteyAthletics
23Brian WellmanAthletics
24Jubzhang JubzhangArchery
25Policarpio CalizayaAthletics
26Islam ÐugumAthletics
27Justice DipebaAthletics
28Joaquim CruzAthletics
29Keita ClineAthletics
30Jefri BolkiahShooting
31Dimo TonevVolleyball
32Franck ZioAthletics
33Dieudonné KwizéraAthletics
34To RithyaAthletics
35Georgette NkomaAthletics
36Charmaine CrooksAthletics
37Manuel Jesús RodríguesVolleyball '
38Carson EbanksSailing
39Mickaël ConjungoAthletics
40Kaltouma NadjinaAthletics
41Sebastian KeitelAthletics
42Liu YudongBasketball
43Marlon Pérez ArangoCycling
44Faissoil Ben DaoudAthletics '
45Léontine TsibaAthletics
46Sam Nunuke PeraWeightlifting
47Henry NúñezJudo
48Jean-Olivier ZirignonAthletics
49Perica BukićWater polo
50Rolando TuckerFencing
51Antonakis AndreouShooting
52Václav ChalupaRowing
53Thomas Stuer-LauridsenBadminton
54Hussein Ahmed SalahAthletics
55Jerome RomainAthletics
56Joan GuzmánBoxing
57Felipe DelgadoSwimming
58Hosam AbdallahHandball
59Juan VargasJudo
60Gustavo Envela MahuaAthletics
61Jüri JaansonRowing
62Derartu TuluAthletics
63Jone DelaiAthletics
64Mikko KolehmainenCanoeing
65Vladimir BogdevskiHandball '
66Marie-José PérecAthletics
67Roger OyemboChef de mission
68Dawda JallowAthletics
69Giorgi KandelakiBoxing
70Arnd SchmittFencing
71Moro TijaniBoxing
72Steve RedgraveRowing
73Jason CharterAthletics '
74Patrick SagisiSwimming
75Attila SoltiShooting
76Joseph LouaAthletics
77Talata EmbaloWrestling
78John DouglasBoxing
79Adler VolmarJudo
80Darwin AngelesBoxing
81Chan Sau YingAthletics
82Bence SzabóFencing
83Jón Arnar MagnússonAthletics
84Pargat SinghField hockey
85Hendrik SimangunsongBoxing
86Lida FarimanShooting
87Raed AhmedWeightlifting
88Francie BarrettBoxing
89Lydia HatuelFencing
90Giovanna TrilliniFencing
91Juliet CuthbertAthletics
92Ryoko TamuraJudo
93Walid Al-AwazemJudo '
94Yermakhan IbraimovBoxing
95Paul TergatAthletics
96Choi Cheon-SikVolleyball
97Abdullah Al-RashidiShooting
98Sergey AshihminSwimming
99Thongdy AmnouayphoneAthletics
100Einārs TupurītisAthletics
101Mohamed Al-AywanWeightlifting
102Jassie MathuntaChef de mission
103Kouty MawenhAthletics
104Mehdi AbdulkheiratOfficial
105Birgit BlumJudo
106Raimundas MažuolisSwimming
107Anne KremerTennis
108Dally RandriantefyTennis
109John MwathiwaAthletics
110Nor Saiful ZainiField hockey
111Ahmed ShageefAthletics
112Monique RossEnvoy
113Carol GaleaAthletics
114Noureddine Ould MéniraAthletics
115Khemraj NaïkoAthletics
116Nancy ContrerasCycling
117Vadim VacarciucWeightlifting
118Thierry VatricanJudo
119Dolgorsürengiin SumyaabazarWrestling
120Khalid SkahAthletics
121Maria de Lurdes MutolaAthletics
122Soe MyintShooting
123Friedhelm SackShooting
124Marcus StephenWeightlifting
125Tika BogatiAthletics
126Nico RienksRowing
127Sergio MurrayJudo
128Barbara KendallSailing
129Walter MartínezShooting
130Abdou ManzoAthletics
131Mary Onyali-OmagbemiAthletics
132Linda AndersenSailing
133Khalaf Al-KhatriShooting
134Mansoor AhmedField hockey
135Majed Abu MaraheelAthletics
136Eileen CoparropaSwimming
137Subul BaboAthletics
138Ramón Jiménez GaonaAthletics
139Chae Ra-UTable tennis '
140Juan GihaShooting
141Reynaldo GalidoBoxing
142Rafał SzukałaSwimming
143Fernando RibeiroAthletics
144Ivelisse EchevarríaSoftball
145Ibrahim Ismail MuftahAthletics
146Iulică RuicanRowing
147Alexander KarelinWrestling
148Parfait NtukamyagweAthletics '
149Diane Dunrod-FrancisAthletics
150Michelle BaptisteAthletics
151Eswort CoombsAthletics
152Manlio MolinariAthletics
153Sortelina PiresAthletics
154Khaled Al-KhalidiAthletics
155Ibou FayeAthletics
156Rival CadeauBoxing
157Eunice BarberAthletics
158Lee Wung YewShooting
159Jozef LohyňaWrestling
160Brigita BukovecAthletics
161Joseph OnikaAthletics '
162Abdi BileAthletics
163Masibulele MakepulaBoxing
164Luis DoresteSailing
165Sriyani KulawansaAthletics
166Mahmoud Musa AbdullahAthletics '
167Enrico LinscheerSwimming
168Daniel SibandzeAthletics
169Jan-Ove WaldnerTable tennis
170Stefan SchärerHandball
171Ghada ShouaaAthletics
172Tu Tsai-hsingShooting
173Andrey AbduvaliyevAthletics
174Ikaji SalumAthletics
175Vissanu SophanichAthletics
176Téko FolliganAthletics
177Paea WolfgrammBoxing
178Gene SamuelCycling
179Iskander HachichaJudo
180Derya BüyükuncuSwimming
181Rozy RejepovWrestling
182Mary MusokeTable tennis
183Sergey BubkaAthletics
184Nabil Abdul TahlakShooting
185Marcelo FilippiniTennis
186Timur IbragimovBoxing
187Tawai KeiruanAthletics
188Francisco SánchezSwimming
189Nguyễn Hữu HuyJudo '
190Lisa NeuburgerSailing
191Bob GasioBoxing
192Abdullah Al-IzaniWrestling
193Igor MilanovićWater polo
194Lukengu NgalulaBasketball
195Davis MwaleBoxing
196Tendai ChimusasaAthletics
197Bruce BaumgartnerWrestling