The collation method used is based on the names as written in Hangul, a traditional Korean alphabet.
Among the nations with Korean names starting with 이 i, several reorderings occurred because of the hostile relationship between the countries.
Hangul alphabetic order would have dictated Iraq → Iran → Israel → Egypt → Italy → India → Indonesia → Japan.
[2][3] Eight nations made their Olympic debut: Aruba, American Samoa, Brunei, Cook Islands, Maldives, Vanuatu, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and South Yemen.
[6][5] Notable flag bearers in the opening ceremony featured the following athletes: seven-time Olympian and Star sailor Hubert Raudaschl (Austria); defending Olympic champions Evelyn Ashford (United States) in the women's 100-metre dash;[7] Jouko Salomaki (Finland) and Vasile Andrei (Romania) in Greco-Roman wrestling; Ernesto Canto (Mexico) in race walking; Agneta Andersson (Sweden) in the women's kayak sprinting; Matija Ljubek in the men's canoe sprinting; and six-time Olympian Reiner Klimke (Federal Republic of Germany), who led the West German team to a gold-medal victory in the equestrian dressage; synchronized swimmers Mikako Kotani (Japan) and Carolyn Waldo (Canada), who eventually topped the podium in both the solo and duet routines; eight-time Olympian and Star sailor Durward Knowles (the Bahamas); eventual gold medalists Ulf Timmermann (German Democratic Republic) in the men's shot put and Aleksandr Karelin (Soviet Union) in the super heavyweight Greco-Roman wrestling; five-time track sprinter and Moscow 1980 champion Pietro Mennea (Italy); long-distance runner Grete Andersen-Waitz (Norway), who bagged a silver medal in the inaugural women's marathon four years earlier; and world-number-three tennis player Gabriela Sabatini (Argentina) in the women's singles.