"Soon afterward, the Olympic flag, aloft since the start of the games, was lowered and carried out slowly by eight all-time Italian sports greats, including boxer Nino Benvenuti and skier Gustavo Thoeni. A children's choir sang Verdi's beautiful chorus "Va, pensiero" from the opera "Nabucco."
Those guys dressed like Napolean were former Italian Olypians.
It's nice you found out who they were, since NBC couldn't be bothered to tell us!