Cyprus Cyprus (), officially the Republic of Cyprus, is an island country in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Situated in West Asia, its cultural identity and geopolitical orientation are overwhelmingly Southeast European. Cyprus is the List of isl ...

sent a delegation to compete at the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, held between 12–28 February 2010. The national delegation consisted of two athletes, alpine skiers Christopher Papamichalopoulos and Sophia Papamichalopoulou. Papamichalopoulou finished 53rd in the women's slalom, the best finish for Cyprus at these Olympics. 2010 Opening Ceremony - Cyprus entering

Background

The Cyprus Olympic Committee was first recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based i ...

in 1978, and the nation has participated in every

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

and

Winter Olympic Games The Winter Olympic Games (), also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in ...

since their debut in 1980. At the time of the Vancouver Olympics, no Cypriot athlete had ever won a medal. They would win their first medal at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

two years after Vancouver. The nation sent two alpine skiers to Vancouver, the brother and sister pair of Christopher Papamichalopoulos and Sophia Papamichalopoulou. Papamichalopoulos was chosen as the flag bearer for the

opening ceremony An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly constructed location or the start of an event.

, while Papamichalopoulou was awarded the honor for the closing ceremony.

Alpine skiing

Christopher Papamichalopoulos was 21 at the time of the Olympics. In the

giant slalom Giant slalom (GS) is an alpine skiing and alpine snowboarding competitive discipline. It involves racing between sets of poles ("gates") spaced at a greater distance from each other than in Slalom skiing, slalom but less than in Super-G. Giant sl ...

, held on 23 February, he finished the first run with a time of 1 minute and 29 seconds, but failed to finish the second run, and was unranked for the event. He took part in the men's slalom on 27 February, but failed to finish the first run. Sophia Papamichalopoulou was 19 years old at the time of the Vancouver Olympics. She competed in both the women's giant slalom and the women's slalom. The giant slalom was held on 24–25 February, as weather postponed the second run until the next day. In her first run, she posted a time of 1 minute and 28 seconds; the next morning she was faster, recording a time of 1 minute and 23 seconds. Her total time of 2 minute and 51 seconds was good for 55th place out of 60 competitors who finished both runs. The slalom event was held on 26 February, and Papamichalopoulou posted two runs of 1 minute and 2 seconds each. Her combined time was good enough for 53rd place, out of 55 competitors who finished both legs of the race.

References

{{Nations at the 2010 Winter Olympics Nations at the 2010 Winter Olympics

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...