Can foreign athletes stay for the Closing Ceremony (of their own choice)?

Question

*…As in, are individual foreign athletes allowed to stay to watch the Closing (even if the rest of their team packs up early and leaves?)

OK, I know that the flag barer definitely should be there (obviously.)

[Additional notes:

I read that U.S.A.’s Shawn Johnson wanted to stay on, but I have not read any further news on that one…

…And yes, I saw one of my own country’s athletes there too, though she appeared for one second only, on camera…]

Answer 1

yes they can

Answer 2

The flag bearers are chosen, once again, by the sports team captains. The flag bearer may or may not be the same as the one that carried the flag in the Opening Ceremonies.

There's no parade of nations like the Opening Ceremonies but instead all of the flags come in together and all of the athletes come in together as 'one'.

Any athlete that wishes to march in the Opening Ceremonies are welcome.

I hope this answers your question.

Enjoy!

Answer 3

It's entirely up to the athlete if he/she wishes to stay until the end....some athletes already have events lined up that they need to get ready for and/or have businesses to run that need their attention, and of course the majority of the reason athletes leave after they are done competing is they want to see their loved ones back home.  Yes, Shawn Johnson did stay until the closing ceremonies, although it was hard to see her (she's only 4'9" tall!!!!!, and sooooo cute!!), and Nastia Liukin returned on Thursday (closing ceremony was on Sunday night) and they were roomies, so that's proof that you can stay or go whatever floats your boat.