Five rings to rule them all

Natalie du Toit, who lost a leg in a 2001 motorbike accident but still beats able-bodied swimmers, looked serene as she carried South Africa's flag in a two-hour athletes’ parade that followed a frenzy of acrobatics and pyrotechnics.

Sudan-born Lopez Lomong — who was snatched at age six, fled his kidnappers and spent a decade going hungry in a Kenyan refugee camp before finding a foster home in the United States — flashed a wide smile as he walked behind the US flag.

“I’m honoured,” he said shortly before athletes from 204 countries marched before 91,000 spectators to a medley of African drumming, Scottish bagpipes and Mexican mariachi music.

Along with winning a gold medal or setting a new world record, being picked as a flag bearer at the emotive opening ceremony is one of the biggest honours of the Games.

Taiwan and Hong Kong got big cheers, as did Iran, Iraq, North Korea and Russia. Newcomers Tuvalu, Marshall Islands and Montenegro made their parade debut as nations marched in Chinese alphabetical order.

Several athletes were on their cellphones and filmed the parade.

Deafening roars met Yao, one of the world’s loftiest basketball players at 7ft 6in, as he closed the parade with China's flag, walking with a young earthquake survivor and a sea of regimented Chinese marchers in yellow.

Federer, whose 27th birthday was the same day, drew cheers as he strode in under the Swiss flag. The tennis world No. 1 further endeared himself to his fans this week when he said meeting his girlfriend at the 2000 Sydney Games was his best Olympic moment.

His top rival Rafael Nadal was among Spanish athletes who ran over to wave their hats at television crews from Spain.

Bulky Samoan weightlifter Ele Opeloge carried the flag for her tiny Pacific island nation but hid the striking traditional tattoo dotted across her thighs with a long blue sarong.

A wardrobe hitch was avoided by 7-metre-tall German flag bearer Dirk Nowitzki. A last-minute qualifier, the basketball player could not find parade trousers to fit, but got a pair lengthened just in time, he said.

Lost boy no more

Lomong, as a child, was one of the Lost Boys of Sudan, kidnapped from his family as a six-year-old by soldiers before...