From The Hill: For the second Olympics in a row, fans of Team USA need to wait a long time to see the American athletes in the opening ceremony parade.
In most cases, the athletes walk in alphabetical order by country — with a few exceptions.
As the birthplace of the Olympics, Greece always holds the honor of being the first delegation in the Parade of Nations. Then come the countries in alphabetical order, starting with Albania. But three countries are skipped over in the 2026 procession: France, Italy and the U.S.
Italy goes last, as is tradition for the host country. France goes to second-to-last, as the next host of the Winter Olympics in 2030. (The 2030 games will take place in the French Alps and across several French cities.) And the U.S. appears third-to-last in the opening parade on Friday, NBC confirmed, because we’ll be hosting the 2034 games in Salt Lake City.
The 2026 Winter Games Opening Ceremony was spread out across four sites in Italy, including Milan, Cortina d’Ampezzo, Livigno, and Predazzo.
Team USA have arrived! ✨#MilanoCortina2026 | #OpeningCeremony pic.twitter.com/Kx0XfsNjdI
— The Olympic Games (@Olympics) February 6, 2026
BUILT FOR THIS MOMENT.
Team USA arrives on the world stage at the @Olympics. 🔥🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/EZnuP6fhXl
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) February 6, 2026
Read more at The Hill
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