The Philippines is not the only country with a non-participant flag bearer in the 2008 Beijing Games.
Marshall Islands? Waylon Muller, Djibouti?s Salah Houssein Ahmed and Ethiopia?s Miruts Yifter joined Manny Pacquiao as flag bearers of their respective countries in the opening ceremony although they are not competing in the quadrennial meet.
Muller is an official, Ahmed a former Olympian, Yifter a coach and Pacquiao probably the best pound-for-pound professional boxer in the world today.
The batch of flag bearers are star-studded with popular NBA players Yao Ming of China, Andrei Kirilenko of Russia, Manu Ginobilli of Argentina and Dirk Nowitzki of Germany carrying the flags of their respective nations.
Tennis star Roger Federer carried Switzerland?s colors.
The powerhouse United States, for its part, had Lopez Lomong as its flag bearer for his inspiring journey from a Sudanese refugee camp to the Olympics.
