CYPRUS READY FOR 2026 WINTER OLYMPICS

When people think of Cyprus, they envision island paradise, a place to enjoy the sun, Europe’s summer playground. A dry, subtropical island known for beaches, maybe a dose of history. Cyprus’s landscapes include warm, clean waters on the Mediterranean Sea, a dry, arid interior. Sport in Cyprus? It’s football that first comes to mind, where kids play for fun, and Cypriot clubs continue to turn heads in European play. Winter? What winter? The notion of Cyprus participating in winter sports may seem as ridiculous as a Jamaican Bobsled team.

Other than Greece and its various regions, the only other modern country to participate in the original Olympics, was Cyprus, as it was part of Ancient Greece, and Cyprus won its fair share of accolades. Since becoming an independent country in 1960, Cyprus has competed in the modern Olympics, and even in the summer games, Cyprus have only ever won two medals, both silver medals courtesy of sailor Pavlos Kontides in 2012 and 2024. Cyprus didn’t begin competing in the Winter Olympics until 1980 and have yet to win a medal. A pair of skiers will try to change that.

As mentioned above, Cyprus is not a country that sees much snow, and what little it does snow is mostly confined to the Troodos Mountains. Snow anywhere else on the island is rare. When the Opening Ceremony takes place Friday night in Milan, Cyprus’s team of two will march into the famed Stadio Giuseppe Meazza, better known as San Siro. Let’s meet the two who will try to join Pavlos Kontides as national heroes.

The only male skier is the 29 year old Yianno Kouyoumdjian, from Nicosia. Kouyoumdjian was Cyprus’s lone representative at the last Winter Olympics in 2022 in Beijing. He finished 42nd in the men’s giant slalom, and by default was also the flag carrier. He attended Colby-Sawyer College, a private university in New Hampshire in the United States, also playing tennis there. He has some family history on his side, as well. His mother, Lina Aristodimou was a member of that first Cypriot Winter Olympics team in 1980, also as a skier. He will compete once again in the giant slalom and the standard men’s slalom.

His only teammate will be Cyprus’s lone female skier, 19 year old Andrea Loizidou, who is from Limassol. This is her first Olympics, but in 2024 she placed 35th in the slalom at the Winter Youth Olympics. She will be competing in the women’s slalom. Giorgos Chrysostomou, the President of the Cypriot Olympic Committee said “It is a special honour and a great success for the Cyprus Ski Federation and, by extension, for the Cyprus Olympic Committee to have the opportunity to participate with one male and one female athlete in the Winter Olympic Games.” The Cypriot Olympic Committee paid 30,000 Euros for the privilege of sending this team of two.