Judo counts eleven flagcarriers during the opening of the Sydney Olympic Games

The spectacular fanfare of the Opening Ceremony of the 2000 Sydney Olympic Games was enjoyed throughout the city with giant plasma screens set up to accommodate the interest of thousands of spectators who couldn't get a ticket to the stadium venue. Judo has many flag carriers as usual.

During the athletes parade, eleven judoka were given the honour of carrying their countries flag and leading their National team's march around the stadium. The proud athletes were: Ulla Werbrouck (Belgium), David Douillet (France), Melanie Engoang (Gabon), Ernst Laraque (Haiti), Kosei Inoue (Japan), Lauren Pace (Malta), Thierry Vatrican (Monaco), Badmaanyambuu Bat-Erdene (Mongolia), Adil Belgaid (Morocco), Kouami Sacha Denanyoh (Togo) and in one of the most moving scenes of the night, South Korean Yong-Sin Choi jointly carried the combined Korean Peninnsula flag as the two Koreas received one of the biggest cheers of the night for demonstrating solidarity, in the true spirit of the Olympics, with their joint parade.

The Mongolian flag-bearer, Bat-Erdene, who is also a Colonel and the president of the Mongolian Judo Federation, received great attention as he marched around in traditional Mongolian wrestling attire. Many other judoka, such as Jimmy Pedro (USA), Isabel Fernandez (Spain) and Adrian Croitoru (Romania) were caught on camera.