Greece sailed out first, as the nation of the
ancient and
first modern
Olympic Games, followed by the
IOC Refugee Olympic Team, composed of refugees from several countries. Per the revised protocol introduced at the 2020 Summer Olympics,
Australia was antepenultimate as the host of the
2032 Summer Olympics in
Brisbane, the
United States was penultimate as the host of the
2028 Summer Olympics in
Los Angeles, and host nation
France entered last. The United States being penultimate and France entering last also served as a preview of how the parade of nations will end during the opening ceremony of the
2030 Winter Olympics; two days before the opening ceremony, the IOC awarded the
French Alps the 2030 games and the United States got the
2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Other teams sailed in alphabetical order in the language of the host country (
French), according to tradition and
IOC guidelines. Interestingly, the name boards had the English names of the delegations on the
port side, from which the parading athletes and officials waved to the cameras; the French names faced the
starboard side, as briefly seen when the Refugee Team's boat passed by one camera on that side behind the athletes. waves to onlookers during the opening ceremonies as its boat cruises along the River Seine. While most countries entered teams under their
short names, several entered under more formal or alternative names, sometimes due to political or naming disputes or for historical reasons. The
People's Republic of China (commonly known as China), entered as the "People's Republic of
China" (
République populaire de Chine) under C. The
Republic of the Congo entered as just "
Congo", right before the
Democratic Republic of the Congo, which entered under its full name (
République démocratique du Congo). Similarly,
South Korea entered as "Republic of
Korea" (
République de Corée) under C while
North Korea entered as "Democratic People's
Republic of Korea" (
République populaire démocratique de Corée). The team from the
United Kingdom entered as
Great Britain (
Grande-Bretagne), for historical reasons, and the team from
Taiwan as "Chinese
Taipei" (
Chinese Taipei). Additionally,
Brunei, the
United States,
East Timor,
Hong Kong,
Iran,
Laos,
Moldova,
Syria, and
Tanzania all entered under their formal names, respectively "
Brunei Darussalam" (
Brunei Darussalam), "United
States of America" (''
États-Unis d'Amérique
), "Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste" (République démocratique du
Timor-Leste
), "Hong Kong, China" (Hong Kong, Chine
), "Islamic Republic of Iran" (République islamique d'
Iran''), "
Lao People's Democratic Republic" (
République populaire démocratique Lao), "Republic of
Moldova" (
République de Moldova), "
Syrian Arab Republic" (
République arabe syrienne), and "United Republic of
Tanzania" (
République-Unie de Tanzanie). This is the first Olympics where the delegations of
Cape Verde, the
Czech Republic and
Turkey were introduced under the names
Cabo Verde,
Czechia (
Tchéquie) and
Türkiye respectively.
Participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes The potential participation of Russian and Belarusian athletes has remained controversial amid the
Russian invasion of Ukraine. In February 2022, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) recommended sports federations to ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from participating in international tournaments, citing the violation of the
Olympic Truce. In July 2023, the IOC stated that while Russia and Belarus would not be formally invited, their athletes would be allowed to compete as neutrals in a similar manner to
Wimbledon after it reversed
its ban of Russians and Belarusians that year. This was confirmed by the IOC in December 2023, with Russian and Belarusian athletes allowed to compete as neutrals without anthems or flags for the upcoming Games. As individual athletes, the delegation did not take part in the parade of nations during the
opening ceremony. == Teams and flagbearers ==