25th Winter Olympic Games Kick Off in Italy, Azerbaijan Also Represented

Today marks the start of the 25th Winter Olympic Games in Italy.

Idman.Biz reports that curling competitions will be held on the first day of the prestigious tournament. In the first round, Sweden – South Korea, Great Britain – Norway, Canada – Czech Republic, and Estonia – Switzerland matches will take place. The games will start at 22:05 Baku time.

Azerbaijan will also be represented at the Winter Olympics. Alpine skier Anastasia Papatoma and figure skater Vladimir Litvintsev will test their strength in the prestigious competition.

Azerbaijan has not yet won a medal at the Winter Olympic Games and first participated as an independent state at the 1998 Olympics in Nagano, Japan. Since then, our country has participated in all Winter Olympic Games, but so far no athlete has reached the podium. The highest indicator to date was recorded at the 2014 Games in Sochi, Russia. Yulia Zlobina and Alexey Sitnikov, who performed in ice dancing in figure skating, took 12th place.

Most recently, Azerbaijan was represented by two athletes at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing. In figure skating competitions, Vladimir Litvintsev took 18th place, and Ekaterina Ryabova took 15th place.

Azerbaijan won its first license for the Winter Paralympic Games in February 2022. Although Mehman Ramazanzade won the right to participate in the Beijing Paralympics in the sprint category of cross-country skiing, his official debut did not take place due to a serious injury during training shortly before the opening of the competition.

It should be noted that the "Milan-Cortina 2026" Winter Olympic Games will be held from February 6 to 26, and the Paralympic Games will be held from March 6 to 15 in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.