All but one (Brunei) of the current 205 National Olympic Committees (NOCs)[70] participated. China and the United States had the largest teams, with 639 and 596[71][72] competitors respectively. Several countries were represented at the Games by a single athlete.
Three countries participated for their first time: the Marshall Islands, Montenegro and Tuvalu.
South African swimmer Natalie du Toit, five time gold medalist at the Athens Paralympics in 2004, qualified to compete at the Beijing Olympics, thus making history by becoming the first amputee to qualify for the Olympic Games since Olivér Halassy in 1936.[73][74] Natalia Partyka (who was born without a right forearm) competed in Table Tennis for Poland.[75]
As in the previous Games since 1984, athletes from the Republic of China (Taiwan) are competing at the Olympics as Chinese Taipei (TPE)[76] under the Chinese Taipei Olympic flag and using the National Banner Song as their official anthem. The participation of Taiwan had been in doubt due to disagreements over the designation of the team in the Chinese language, and concerns that Taiwan would march in the Opening Ceremony next to the Chinese Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong.[77] Unlike in previous games, supporters were not able to legally display the flag of the Republic of China even outside the venues.[78]
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