Team USA usually marches into the Olympic stadium near the end of the opening ceremony. But in PyeongChang, the team was actually the 26th to enter the stadium on Friday.
Why was there a change? The participating nations are always announced in alphabetical order, according to the host country's language. The Korean alphabet, known as Hangul, is completely different than the English A-B-Cs.
As is Olympic tradition, Greece — which hosted the first modern Olympic games in 1896 — started the parade of athletes into PyeongChang Olympic Stadium. They were followed by Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa.
The Americans marched in between Mongolia and Bermuda, with luge veteran Erin Hamlin carrying the flag.
The Tongan flagbearer Pita Taufatofua, who went viral during the 2016 Olympics for walking into the stadium shirtless, will march in 80th.
On a chilly night in PyeongChang, the ceremony lasted approximately two hours and 17 minutes, one of the shortest in recent memory. It kicked off what will be the biggest Winter Olympic Games to date with more than 2,900 athletes from 92 countries competing.
The opening ceremony will be broadcasted on NBC Friday night at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT.
Contributing: Associated Press and USA Today
