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.

Parade order

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, 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 with its full name. Iran, Micronesia, Moldova, Laos, Brunei and the United States all entered under their formal names, respectively "Islamic Republic of Iran", "Federated States of Micronesia", "Republic of Moldova", "Lao People's Democratic Republic", "Brunei Darussalam" and "United States of America".
A record of 199 nations entered the stadium with the exception of Afghanistan, a nation which was banned by IOC in 1999 because of the extremist rule of the Taliban's oppression on women and its sports. The parade of nations also featured a unified entrance by the athletes of the North and South Korea, holding a specially designed unification flag: a white background flag with a blue map of the Korean peninsula; however, the two teams competed separately. Four athletes from East Timor marched directly in the opening ceremonies as Individual Olympic Athletes before the host nation. Without the existence of the National Olympic Committee, they were allowed to compete under the Olympic flag.
Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: windsurfer Nikolaos Kaklamanakis, Olympic beach volleyball champion Sandra Pires, tennis player Nicolás Massú, heavyweight boxing champion Félix Savón, long-distance runner Derartu Tulu, sprint kayaker and five-time gold medalist Birgit Fischer, coxless pairs rower and double gold medalist Matthew Pinsent, show jumper Princess Haya, discus thrower and 1992 Olympic champion Romas Ubartas, dressage rider Anky van Grunsven, middle-distance runner Vebjørn Rodal, two-time Greco-Roman wrestling champion Andrzej Wroński, five-time rowing champion Elisabeta Lipă, four-time Olympic handballer Andrey Lavrov, six-time Olympic water polo player Manuel Estiarte, and basketball players Carlton Myers and Andrew Gaze.

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.
OrderNationFlag bearerSport
1Nikolaos KaklamanakisSailing
2Ilirjan SuliWeightlifting
3Djabir Saïd-GuerniAthletics
4Lisa MisipekaAthletics
5Antoni BernadóAthletics
6Nádia CruzSwimming
7Heather SamuelAthletics
8Carlos EspínolaSailing
9Haykaz GalstyanWrestling
10Richard RodriguezAthletics
11Wolfram Waibel Jr.Shooting
12Namig AbdullayevWrestling
13Pauline Davis-ThompsonAthletics
14Dawood YoussefSwimming
15Sabrina SultanaShooting
16Andrea BlackettAthletics
17Siarhei LishtvanWrestling
18Ulla WerbrouckJudo
19Emma WadeAthletics
20Laure KueteyAthletics
21Mary Jane TumbridgeEquestrian
22Jubzhang JubzhangArchery
23Marco CondoriAthletics
24Elvir KrehmićAthletics
25Gilbert KhunwaneBoxing
26Sandra PiresBeach volleyball
27Keita ClineAthletics
28Haseri AsliAthletics
29Ivo YanakievRowing
30Sarah TondéAthletics
31Diane NukuriAthletics
32To RithyaAthletics
33Cécile NgambiAthletics '
34Caroline BrunetCanoeing
35Isménia do FredericoAthletics
36Kareem Streete-ThompsonAthletics
37Mickaël ConjungoAthletics
38Gana Abba KimetAthletics
39Nicolás MassúTennis
40Liu YudongBasketball
41María Isabel UrrutiaWeightlifting
42Shareef MohammedOfficial
43Marien Michel NgouabiSwimming
44Turia VogelSailing
45Karina FernándezTriathlon
46Ibrahim MeitéAthletics
47Zoran PrimoracTable tennis
48Félix SavónBoxing
49Antonakis AndreouShooting
50Martin DoktorCanoeing
51Mwenze KalomboAthletics
52Jesper BankSailing
53Djama RoblehAthletics '
54Marcia DanielAthletics
55Wanda RijoWeightlifting
56Martha TenorioAthletics
57Yahia RashwanTaekwondo
58Eva DimasWeightlifting
59Eric MoussambaniSwimming
60Nebiat HabtemariamAthletics
61Tõnu TõnisteSailing
62Derartu TuluAthletics
63Tony PhilpSailing
64Olli-Pekka KarjalainenAthletics
65Lazar PopovskiCanoeing
66David DouilletJudo
67Mélanie EngoangJudo
68Adama NjieAthletics
69Giorgi AsanidzeWeightlifting
70Birgit FischerCanoeing
71Kennedy OseiAthletics
72Matthew PinsentRowing
73Hazel-Ann RegisAthletics
74Melissa Lynn FejeranWeightlifting
75Attila SoltiShooting
76Joseph LouaAthletics
77Talata EmbaloWrestling
78Aliann PompeyAthletics
79Nadine Faustin-ParkerAthletics
80Alejandro CastellanosSwimming
81Fenella NgRowing
82Rita KőbánCanoeing
83Guðrún ArnardóttirAthletics
84Leander PaesTennis
85Rexy MainakyBadminton
86Amir Reza KhademWrestling
87Bashar Mohammad AliChef de mission
88Sonia O'SullivanAthletics
89Rogel NachumAthletics
90Carlton MyersBasketball
91Deon HemmingsAthletics
92Kosei InoueJudo
93Princess HayaEquestrian
94Yermakhan IbraimovBoxing
95Kennedy OchiengAthletics
96North Korea Pak Jung-chulOfficial
96South Korea Chung Eun-soonBasketball
97Fawzi Al-ShammariAthletics
98Raatbek SanatbayevWrestling
99Sisomphone VongpharkdyAthletics
100Voldemārs LūsisAthletics
101Jean-Claude RabbathAthletics
102Mokete MokhosiTaekwondo
103Kouty MawenhAthletics
104Nizar NaeeliTaekwondo
105Oliver GeissmannShooting
106Romas UbartasAthletics
107Lara HeinzSwimming
108Joseph-Berlioz RandriamihajaAthletics
109Francis MunthaliAthletics
110Mirnawan NawawiField hockey
111Naseer IsmailAthletics
112Brahima GuindoJudo
113Laurie PaceJudo
114Sidi Mohamed Ould BidjelAthletics
115Michael MacaqueBoxing
116Fernando PlatasDiving
117Manuel MinginfelWeightlifting
118Vadim VacarciucWeightlifting
119Thierry VatricanJudo
120Badmaanyambuugiin Bat-ErdeneJudo
121Adil BelgaidJudo
122Jorge DuvaneAthletics
123Maung Maung NgeAthletics
124Paulus Ali NuumbembeBoxing
125Marcus StephenWeightlifting
126Chitra Bahadur GurungSwimming
127Anky van GrunsvenEquestrian
128Cor van AanholtSailing
129Blyth TaitEquestrian
130Walter MartínezShooting
131Mamane Sani AliAthletics
132Sunday BadaAthletics
133Vebjørn RodalAthletics
134Mohamed Amer Al-MalkyAthletics
135Ahmed AlamField hockey
136Valerie PedroWeightlifting
137Ramy DeebAthletics
138Eileen CoparropaSwimming
139Xenia PeniSwimming
140Nery KennedyAthletics
141Rosa GarcíaVolleyball
142Donald GeislerTaekwondo
143Andrzej WrońskiWrestling
144Miguel MaiaBeach volleyball
145Enrique FigueroaSailing
146Ibrahim Ismail MuftahAthletics
147Elisabeta LipăRowing
148Andrey LavrovHandball
149Pierre KaremeraOfficial
150Kim CollinsAthletics
151Dominic JohnsonAthletics
152Pamenos BallantyneAthletics
153Pauga LalauBoxing
154Emanuela FeliciShooting
155Naide GomesAthletics
156Khaled Al-DosariTaekwondo
157Mame Tacko DioufAthletics
158Benjamin Lo-PintoSwimming
159Ekundayo WilliamsAthletics
160Joscelin YeoSwimming
161Slavomír KňazovickýCanoeing
162Iztok ČopRowing
163Primo HigaAthletics
164Ibrahim Mohamed AdenAthletics
165Hezekiél SepengAthletics
166Manuel EstiarteWater polo
167Damayanthi DharshaAthletics
168Mahmoud KienoChef de mission
169Letitia VriesdeAthletics
170Musa SimelaneBoxing
171Anna OlssonCanoeing
172Thomas FrischknechtCycling
173Moutassem GhotouqChef de mission
174Chiang Peng-lungTable tennis
175Khurshed HasanovBoxing
176Restituta JosephAthletics
177Somluck KamsingBoxing
178Kouami Sacha DenanyohJudo
179Ana Siulolo LikuAthletics
180Ato BoldonAthletics
181Omrane AyariWrestling
182Hamza YerlikayaWrestling
183Chary MamedovAthletics
184Muhamed KizitoBoxing
185Yevhen BraslavetsSailing
186Saeed Al-MaktoumShooting
187Cliff MeidlCanoeing
188Mónica FalcioniAthletics
189Mahammatkodir AbdullaevBoxing
190Mary-Estelle KapaluAthletics
191Adriana CarmonaTaekwondo
192Trương Ngọc ĐểChef de mission
193Ameerah BelloAthletics
194Basheer Al-KhewaniAthletics
195Vladimir GrbićVolleyball
196Samuel MateteAthletics
197Philip MukomanaAthletics
198Victor RamosBoxing
199Andrew GazeBasketball