Rio Olympics 2016, the most awaited sporting event in the world, will begin with an official opening ceremony at the Marcana Stadium on Friday. The world will watch top athletes go head-to-head in various sporting competitions for over two weeks. The quadrennial event starts on Aug. 5, and will end on Aug. 21.
But before these athletes give it their all in their respective sporting events, they will participate in what is expected to be an interesting Rio Olympics opening ceremony. Like in other Olympics, the ceremony is set to entertain the audience world over with some grand spectacles.
Athletes from 207 countries will be present for a parade at the stadium, waving their hands to the spectators, who will be thrilled to see 11,000-odd sportspersons during the Games in Rio. The most visible of them will, of course, be the flag bearers in each contingent, who will lead the fellow participants from their country. All athletes dream of this occasion, which is considered a major highlight in their career.
Well-known sports personalities such as Abhinav Bindra (India), Michael Phelps (United States) and Andy Murray (Great Britain) are among those who will carry the national flag of their country in Rio.
Here is a list of confirmed flag bearers (so far) for the participating countries in Rio:
India - Abhinav Bindra
Greece - Sofia Bekatorou
Afghanistan - Kamia Yousufi
South Africa - Wayde van Niekerk
Andorra - Laura Salles
Australia - Anna Meares
Armenia - Vahan Mkhitaryan
Angola - LuÃsa Kiala
Argentina - Luis Scola
Austria - Liu Jia
Bangaldesh - Siddikiur Rahman
Belize - Brandon Jones
Bolivia -Angela Castro
Bulgaria - Ivet Lalova
Benin - Yemi Apithy
Belarus - Vasil Kiryienka
Cameroon - Wilfried Ntsengue
Cambodia - Sorn Seavmey
Croatia - Josip Pavić
Canada - Rosannagh MacLennan
Chile - Érika Olivera
Costa Rica - Nery Brenes
Cuba- MijaÃn López
Denmark - Caroline Wozniacki
UAE - Nada Al-Bedwawi
Equador- Andres Chocho
Spain - Rafael Nadal
USA - Michael Phelps
Russian Federation - Sergey Tetyukhin
Philippines - Ian Lariba
Finland - Tuuli Petaja-Siren
France - Teddy Rinner
Great Britain - Andy Murray
Gambia - Gina Bass
Gautemala - Ana SofÃa Gómez
Hungary - Ãron Szilagyi
Cook Islands - Ella Nicholas
British Virgin Islands - Ashley Kelly
Indonesia - Maria Natalia Londa
Israel - Neta Rivkin
Italy - Federica Pellegrini
Ireland - Paddy Barnes
Jamaica - Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce
Japan - Keisuke Ushiro
Kosovo- Majlinda Kelmendi
Lebanon - Nacif Elias
Malaysia - Lee Chong Wei
Malta - Andrew Chetcuti
Mauritius - Kate Foo Kune
Mexico - Daniela Campuzano
Maldives - Aminath Shajan
Montennegro - Bojana Popović
Namibia - Jonas Junia
Nepal - Phupu Lhamu Khatri
Nigeria - John Obi Mikel
Panama - Alonso Edward
Poland - Karol Bielecki
Puerto Rico - Jaime Espinal
Portugal - Joao Rodrigues
Pakistan - Shah Hussain Shah
South Korea - Gu Bon-gil
Iran - Zahra Nemati
China - Lei Sheng
Romania - Cătălina Ponor
San Marino - Arianna Perilli
Sri Lanka - Anuradha Cooray
Serbia - Ivana Anđusic Maksimovic
Singapore - Derek Wong Zi Liang
Thailand - Ratchanok Intanon
Tonga - Pita Taufatofua
Tuvalu - Etimoni Timuani
Ukraine- Mykola Milchev
Uruguay - Dolores Moreira
Venezuela - Ruben Limardo
Zimbabwe - Kirsty Coventry
Brazil - Yane Marques
