1984 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations
During the opening ceremony of the 1984 Summer Olympics, teams entered the arena behind their national flags, with each flag carried by an athlete chosen by their national committee or by the athletes themselves.
Greece entered first, as the country of the first modern Games, and the United States entered last as the host nation. The other nations followed in English alphabetical order, in line with tradition and IOC rules. Some countries used different names for political reasons: Taiwan competed as Chinese Taipei, and China competed as the People’s Republic of China.
A record 140 nations took part, with a total of 7,078 athletes.
Eighteen nations made their Olympic debuts: Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates.
The People's Republic of China returned to the Summer Games for the first time since 1952, while the Republic of China participated for the first time under the name Chinese Taipei due to IOC arrangements.
Thirteen countries were part of the Soviet Union–led boycott: Afghanistan, Angola, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, East Germany, Hungary, Laos, Mongolia, North Korea, Poland, and Vietnam.
Romania and Yugoslavia did attend, despite being socialist countries that often boycotted. Albania, Iran, Burkina Faso, and Libya did not compete for political reasons unrelated to the Soviet boycott.
Notable flag bearers included: Hubert Raudaschl (Austria); Stelios Mygiakis (Greece); Esko Rechardt (Finland); Angelo Parisi (France); Sara Simeoni (Italy); Corneliu Ion (Romania); Alejandro Abascal (Spain); John Walker (New Zealand); Christine Stückelberger (Switzerland); Dražen Dalipagić (Yugoslavia); and Ed Burke (United States).
The article lists each country's official flag bearer, presented in the order in which the nations appeared in the parade.
This page was last edited on 2 February 2026, at 15:14 (CET).