The Parade of Nations at the Opening Ceremony in the Olympics has an intentional structure to it, but when it comes to the Closing Ceremony, athletes simply enter en masse.
Why is that?
Turns out it wasn’t always the case.
The athletes marching en masse to end the games is meant to show togetherness and comradery after the competitive nature of the games. This idea dates back to the 1956 Melbourne games, originating from a young Chinese man named John Ian Wing.
Wing wrote an anonymous letter with the idea to the International Olympic Committee, and the idea was implemented to great success. The Melbourne Olympics were henceforth known as the “Friendly Games.”
The Parade of Athletes features representatives of each of the 205 delegations.
In Paris, the flag bearers of each delegation started the parade on the stage, in the centre of the stadium, that symbolically represents a planisphere.
Then athletes enter the arena together from two entry points to join the parade.
The two U.S. flag bearers were swimming superstar Katie Ledecky and rower Nick Mead.