BEIJING — The Opening Ceremony of the 2022 Olympics in Beijing got underway Friday, with representatives from 91 nations taking part in the event, including about 80 percent of the US delegation of athletes.
As always at the Olympics, Greece is the first nation to enter the stadium. From there, it goes alphabetically — but by the language of the host country.
Greece was followed by, in order, Turkey, Malta, Madagascar, Malaysia, Ecuador, Eritrea, Jamaica, Belgium, and then Japan.
The US was 56th in the order, which would be confusing to those thinking it’ll go according to the English alphabet. The US group is sandwiched between Bulgaria and American Samoa.
At least two of the women who would have been flagbearers at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Olympics were not in the parade of athletes on Friday night because of virus-related issues.
US bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor had to give up her spot to speedskater Brittany Bowe. Meyers Taylor remains in isolation after a positive test.
And Friday, US Virgin Islands skeleton athlete Katie Tannenbaum revealed that she, too, has tested positive for COVID-19. The Virgin Islands flag was being carried into the stadium by a volunteer.
Tannenbaum is the only athlete representing the Virgin Islands in Beijing at these games.
The team of Russian athletes appeared at the official midpoint of the parade. They’re in Beijing competing under the Olympic emblem and not the Russian flag, part of the sanctions handed down to that nation’s Olympic committee for doping scandals such as the one that overshadowed the 2014 Sochi Games.
Russian President Vladimir Putin cheered on his nation’s athletes at the opening ceremony, making the trip to Beijing as tens of thousands of Russian troops are poised for a possible invasion of Ukraine.
Putin is one of the most prominent world leaders attending Friday’s ceremony. The United States and Japan, as well as some other nations, staged a diplomatic boycott of the games.
The Russian leader stood and waved to his nation’s athletes as they entered the stadium. Chinese President Xi Jinping, who met with Putin earlier Friday in Beijing, also clapped for the Russian team.
Any Russian athlete who wins a gold medal at the games will hear the Olympic anthem instead of that of their home nation.
Tradition also dictates who the last two teams in the parade are. Italy — the host of the next Winter Games in 2026 — will enter next-to-last, and then China will close the parade with its delegation.
No detail was overlooked at the opening ceremony as every nation was led into the stadium by someone carrying a glowing snowflake-shaped place card bearing the country’s name.
Each of the snowflakes, when put back together, would form a larger snowflake.
The placard bearers’ costumes have an ice-and-snow pattern, and their hats have a tiger motif — because this year is the year of the tiger in China.
