1998 Winter Olympics national flag bearers
During the Parade of Nations section of the 1998 Winter Olympics opening ceremony, athletes from each country participating in the Olympics paraded in the arena.Due the rules stipulated by the Olympic Charter (and political issues between China and Chinese Taipei along the two Koreas) at the time the Organizing Committee opted for the option of the protocol order in English in as a sign of goodwill associated with the concept applied by the Organizing Committee, instead of host nation's language, Japanese.Had the parade followed the Japanese characters, Greece would have been followed by Iceland, and Russian Federation would have been the penultimate country before Japan.snow children) which bears a country name sign marched before each delegation.Some of famous sumo wrestlers such as Takanonami and Wakanohana accompanied the teams.