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Athletes from the Philippines, Poland and Puerto Rico sail along the Seine River near the Pont Royal during the opening ceremony of the 2024 Paris Olympic Games on July 26, 2024. Sébastien Bozon/AFP
The Philippine team made its debut at the 2024 Paris Olympics early Saturday morning (Manila time), with the opening ceremony of this Olympics being the first of its kind.
The opening ceremony and traditional parade of nations took place on the Seine, with delegations travelling by boat in front of officials including French President Emmanuel Macron and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, as well as thousands of fans lining the riverbank.
The Philippines team ranked 148th, with boxers Carlo Paalam and Nesthy Petecio, silver medalists in the last Tokyo Olympics boxing event, as Philippine flag bearers.
READ: Team Philippines at 2024 Paris Olympics: Meet the athletes
The team debuted at 3:29 a.m. Manila time Saturday.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and other officials cheered the delegation as they waited patiently in a special area on the riverbank along with other officials.
The Philippines has 22 athletes representing Paris, including gold medal hopeful and two-time gymnastics world champion Carlos Yulo and world No. 2 pole vaulter EJ Obiena.
Read: Paris Olympics kicks off with ambitious, grand opening ceremony
But at the opening ceremony, the Philippines was represented by 10 athletes and five officials.
The order of entry was in French alphabetical order, interspersed with entertainment and cultural performances, including a cabaret-style performance by Lady Gaga.
The only countries to break the alphabetical order are Greece (traditionally Greece is the birthplace of the Olympics, hence Greece is the origin of the Games), future hosts Australia (2032) and the United States (2028), and host France. Australia, the United States and France are the last three delegations to pass through the Seine in alphabetical order.
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