[2] Eighteen nations made their Olympic debut, namely Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, British Virgin Islands, Djibouti, Equatorial Guinea, Gambia, Grenada, Mauritania, Mauritius, North Yemen, Oman, Qatar, Rwanda, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, and the United Arab Emirates.
Thirteen countries, namely Afghanistan, Angola, Bulgaria, Cuba, Czechoslovakia, Ethiopia, East Germany, Hungary, Laos, Mongolia, North Korea, Poland, and Vietnam, were part of the Soviet Union-boycott of these Games.
[3][4] Apart from the People's Republic of China (a communist country that had substantially warmer relations with the United States than with the Soviet Union, following the Sino–Soviet split),[5] Romania and Yugoslavia were among the socialist countries to disregard the boycott and attend the Games.
Albania, Iran, Burkina Faso and Libya also did not compete at the Games, citing political reasons unrelated to the Soviet Union.
[6] Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: six-time Olympian and Star sailor Hubert Raudaschl (Austria); defending Olympic champions Stelios Mygiakis (Greece) in Greco-Roman wrestling, Esko Rechardt in Finn sailing, Angelo Parisi (France) in heavyweight judo, Sara Simeoni (Italy) in women's high jump, Corneliu Ion (Romania) in rapid fire pistol shooting, and Alejandro Abascal (Spain) in the Flying Dutchman; middle-distance runner and 1976 Olympic champion John Walker; dressage rider Christine Stückelberger (Switzerland); professional basketball player Dražen Dalipagić (Yugoslavia), who led his men's team to capture the gold medal in Moscow four years earlier; and hammer thrower Ed Burke (United States), who competed in his third appearance since the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.