Attending Heads of State
More than 100 heads of state, heads of government and sovereigns attended the opening ceremony. The number of heads of state who attended the opening ceremony was by far the largest in Olympic history.
| List of heads of states and dignitaries |
- Afghanistan – President Hamid Karzai
- Albania – Prime Minister Sali Berisha and wife
- Algeria – President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
- Andorra – Head of Government Albert Pintat Santolària and wife
- Angola – President José Eduardo dos Santos and wife
- Armenia – President Serzh Sargsyan
- Australia – Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and wife Thérèse Rein
- Azerbaijan – President Ilham Aliyev and wife Mehriban Aliyeva
- Bangladesh – Chief of Army Staff, General Moeen U Ahmed
- Belarus – President Alexander Lukashenko
- Belgium – The Duke of Brabant
- Bosnia and Herzegovina – President Haris Silajdzic
- Brazil – President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva
- Brunei – Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah
- Bulgaria – President Georgi Parvanov
- Burundi – President Pierre Nkurunziza
- Cambodia – King Norodom Sihamoni
- Canada – Foreign Minister David Emerson, State minister Helena Guergis, and British Columbia Premier Gordon Campbell
- Chad – Prime Minister Youssouf Saleh Abbas
- China – President Hu Jintao and Liu Yongqing, former President Jiang Zemin, and the entire Politburo Standing Committee
- Chinese Taipei – Former Minister of the Interior Wu Po-hsiung, former Vice President Lien Chan, former Governor of Taiwan Province James Soong
- Democratic Republic of the Congo – President Joseph Kabila
- Cook Islands – Head of State Sir Frederick Goodwin and wife
- Croatia – President Stjepan Mesić
- Cyprus – President Demetris Christofias and wife
- Denmark – The Crown Prince and Crown Princess of Denmark
- Djibouti – Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita
- Fiji – Interim Prime Minister Commodore Frank Bainimarama and wife
- Finland – Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen
- France – President Nicolas Sarkozy and son Louis, Bernard Accoyer, and Jean-Pierre Raffarin
- Gabon – President Omar Bongo
- Germany – Former Chancellor Gerhard Schröder
- Ghana – President John Agyekum Kufuor
- Greece – Foreign minister Dora Bakoyannis, Michael Liapis
- Guam – Governor Felix Camacho
- Guinea – Prime Minister Ahmed Tidiane Souaré
- Hong Kong – Chief Executive Sir Donald Tsang and Financial Secretary John Tsang
- Hungary – President Pál Schmitt and wife
- Iceland – President Ólafur Ragnar Grímsson
- India – President of the Indian National Congress (INC) Sonia Gandhi, General Secretary of the INC Rahul Gandhi, and Chief Election Commissioner M. S. Gill
- Ireland – Sports Minister Martin Cullen
- Israel – President Shimon Peres
- Italy – Foreign Minister Franco Frattini
- Japan – Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda and wife
- Kazakhstan – President Nursultan Nazarbayev and wife
- Kenya – Vice President Kalonzo Musyoka
- North Korea – Chairman of the Presidium Supreme Assembly Kim Yong Nam
- South Korea – President Lee Myung-bak and wife Kim Yoon-ok
- Kyrgyzstan – President Kurmanbek Bakiyev
- Laos – President Choummaly Sayasone and wife
- Latvia – President Valdis Zatlers and wife
- Luxembourg – Henri, Grand Duke, and Maria Teresa, Grand Duchess
- Madagascar – President Marc Ravalomanana and wife
- Malaysia – King King Mizan Zainal Abidin and Queen Queen Nur Zahirah
- Mali – President Amadou Toumani Touré and wife
- Mauritius – President Anerood Jugnauth and wife
- Federated States of Micronesia – President Manny Mori
- Monaco – Head of State Albert II, Prince of Monaco, and his partner Charlene Wittstock
- Mongolia – President Nambaryn Enkhbayar and wife
- Montenegro – President Filip Vujanović and wife Svetlana
- Mozambique – President Armando Guebuza
- Myanmar – President Thein Sein
- Netherlands – The Prince of Orange and his wife Princess Máxima, and Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende
- New Zealand – Governor General Anand Satyanand and wife
- Norway – King Harald V and Queen Sonja
- Pakistan – Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani
- Philippines – President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo and husband Jose Miguel Arroyo
- Qatar – Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani
- Romania – President Traian Băsescu and wife
- Russia – Prime Minister Vladimir Putin
- Samoa – Head of State Tuiatua Tupua Tamasese Efi and wife
- San Marino – Rosa Zafferani and husband, and Federico Pedini Amati and wife
- Saudi Arabia – Prince Bandar bin Sultan
- Serbia – President Boris Tadić and Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremić
- Seychelles – President James Alix Michel
- Singapore – President S. R. Nathan
- Slovakia – President Ivan Gašparovič and wife
- Slovenia – Sports Minister Milan Zver
- South Africa – President Zanele Mbeki
- Spain – The Prince and Princess of Asturias, and Foreign Minister Miguel Ángel Moratinos
- Sri Lanka – President Mahinda Rajapaksa and wife Shiranthi
- Sweden – Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt and Culture Minister Lena Adelsohn Liljeroth
- Switzerland – President Pascal Couchepin and wife Brigitte
- Tajikistan – President Emomalii Rahmon
- Thailand – Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej
- Timor-Leste – President José Ramos-Horta
- Togo – President Faure Gnassingbé
- Tonga – Crown Prince ʻAhoʻeitu ʻUnuakiʻotonga Tukuʻaho and wife
- Turkmenistan – President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedow
- Ukraine – President Viktor Yushchenko
- United Kingdom – The Princess Royal (Prime Minister Gordon Brown to attend closing ceremony)
- United States – President George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush, Former President George H. W. Bush and wife Barbara Bush, and Former Secretary of State Henry Kissinger
- Uzbekistan – President Islam Karimov
- Vanuatu – President Kalkot Mataskelekele and wife and Prime Minister Ham Lini and wife
- Vietnam – President Nguyễn Minh Triết
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