As the 2026 Winter Olympics get underway, it’s always fun to look through the nationalities and see who is unexpectedly represented.

Cyprus? Pakistan? Jamaica?! 

There are almost always representatives from countries you wouldn’t expect to be playing winter sports. And our Koryo Tours countries are no exception!

We’ve got EIGHT of our destinations participating in the Winter Olympics this year.

Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, and Serbia.

Want to know more about them? Their history? Their athletes?

We take a look at all of that... And more!

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1. Armenia’s History at the Winter Olympics

Historically, Armenia has participated in the Winter Olympics since 1952 as part of the Soviet Union.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, they then spent one Olympic cycle on the Unified Team at the 1992 Winter Olympics. They then made their debut as a sovereign nation at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Since then, they’ve sent at least two athletes to every single Winter Olympic games.

However - the nation is still looking for its first medal.

Armenia at the 2026 Winter Olympics

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Armenia has five athletes, three men and two women.

The athletes are - 
Harutyun Harutyunyan: Men’s giant slalom, Men’s slalom
Mikayel Mikayelyan: Men’s skiathlon, Men’s freestyle cross-country skiing
Katya Galstyan: Women’s skiathlon, Women’s freestyle cross-country skiing
Karina Akopova: Pairs Figure Skating
Nikita Rakhmanin: Pairs Figure Skating

As of February 12th, Mikayel Mikayelyan finished the men’s skiathlon as the 48th, while Katya Galstyan finished 69th in the women’s skiathlon.

Galstyan also finished 82nd in women’s freestyle cross-country skiing.

Armenia’s Winter Olympic sports -

In their Winter Olympic history, Armenia has been represented in;

Alpine Skiing
Cross-country Skiing
Figure skating
Freestyle Skiing
Bobsleigh

Obviously, they're still waiting for their first medal.

Armenia also plans to participate in Olympic qualifiers in ice hockey, but they aren’t expected to qualify.

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Azerbaijan's History at the Winter Olympics

Similar to Armenia, Azerbaijan has participated in the Winter Olympics since 1952 as part of the Soviet Union.

Following the fall of the Soviet Union, they did not qualify for the Winter Olympics for two cycles until finally making their debut as a sovereign nation at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

Since then, they’ve sent at least one athlete to every single Winter Olympic games.

However, again, like their neighbours, Armenia, the nation is still looking for their first medal.

Azerbaijan at the 2026 Winter Olympics - 

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Azerbaijan has athletes, one man and one woman.

Anastasia Papathoma is the woman participating in Women’s Slalom, while Vladimir Litvintsev is the man participating in Men’s Singles Figure Skating.

As of February 12th, Litvintsev finished 29th in the first round of his competition, failing to qualify for the following round.

Azerbaijan Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Azerbaijan has only been represented in the two sports they are participating in this year. Alpine Skiing and Figure Skating.

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Georgia’s History at the Winter Olympics 

Another former Soviet Union country that participated with the Soviets until their fall.

They then spent one Olympic cycle not participating before making their debut as a sovereign nation at the 1994 Winter Olympics.

Since then, they’ve sent at least three athletes to every single Winter Olympic Games.

Noticing a common theme here though… still searching for their first medal!

Georgia at the 2026 Winter Olympics -

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Georgia has eight athletes, four men and four women.

Among the athletes are 

Luka Buchukuri: Men’s giant slalom, Men’s slalom
Nino Tsiklauri: Women’s giant slalom, Women’s slalom
Nika Egadze: Men’s Singles Figure Skating
Anastasiia Gubanova: Women’s Singles Figure Skating
Luka Berulava: Figure Skating Pairs
Anastasiia Metelkina: Figure Skating Pairs
Gleb Smolkin: Figure Skating Ice Dance
Diana Davis: Figure Skating Ice Dance

As of February 12th, Davis and Smolkin finished 13th in the figure skating ice dance.

Georgia’s Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Georgia has been represented in;
Alpine Skiing
Figure skating
Ski Jumping
Toboggan 

Georgia also participated in the 2026 Winter Olympic qualifiers for ice hockey, making it to the second round of qualifications before finishing third out of four in their group, losing to the Netherlands and Spain while beating Thailand. But ultimately being eliminated.

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Hungary’s History at the Winter Olympics 

Hungary has a long history at the Winter Olympics, participating for over 100 years, with the first participation being in 1924.

Since then, they’ve sent at least one athlete to every single Winter Olympic Games, sending over 300 athletes to the games in their history.

The nation has two gold medals and 10 total medals in its 102-year Winter Olympic history.

Hungary at the 2026 Winter Olympics

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Hungary has 16 athletes, nine men and seven women.

The athletes consist of:

Balint Ury: Men’s giant slalom, Men’s slalom
Zita Toth: Women’s giant slalom, Women’s slalom
Adam Buki: Men’s 20 kilometre skiathlon, Men’s cross-country skiing sprint
Adam Konya: Men’s 20 kilometre skiathlon, Men’s team cross-country skiing sprint
Lara Vanda Laczko: Women’s 10 kilometre freestyle, Women’s team cross-country skiing sprint
Sara Ponya: Women’s 10 kilometre freestyle, Women’s cross-country skiing sprint
Maria Pavlova: Figure Skating Pairs
Alexei Sviatchenko: Figure Skating Pairs
Moon Won-jun: 500 m speed skating, 1000 m speed skating, 1500 m speed skating, 5000 m relay speed skating, 2000 m mixed relay speed skating
Bence Nogradi: 1000 m speed skating, 1500 m speed skating, 5000 m relay speed skating, 2000 m mixed relay speed skating
Dominik Major: 5000 m relay speed skating
Daniel Tiborcz: 5000 m relay speed skating
Diana Laura Vegi: 500 m speed skating, 1000 m speed skating, 1500 m speed skating, 2000 m mixed relay speed skating
Maja Somodi: 1000 m speed skating, 1500 m speed skating, 2000 m mixed relay speed skating
Blanca Brunner: Women’s snowboarding
Kim Min-seok: Men’s 1000 m speed skating, men’s 1500 m speed skating

As of February 12th, none of their 2026 competitors has medaled.

Hungary’s Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Hungary has been represented in;

Alpine Skiing
Cross-country Skiing
Figure skating
Freestyle Skiing
Nordic combined
Short track
Ski jumping
Snowboarding
Speed skating
Biathlon
Bobsleigh

However, they’ve only won medals in two of these events. Short track (4 medals, 2 gold), and Figure skating (6 medals, 0 gold).

Hungary made it to the final round of Olympic Qualifiers in ice hockey, but fell last in their group, losing to Slovakia, Kazakhstan, and Austria and failing to make it to Milan.

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Kazakhstan History at the Winter Olympics 

Kazakhstan was, of course, a part of the Soviet Union, and was represented by them from 1952-1988. This was before then joining the Unified Team for 1992, and finally participating as a sovereign nation in 1994.

Since then, they’ve sent a whopping 29+ athletes in every single Winter Olympics they’ve participated in, and have won eight total medals.

However, they have just one single gold medal.

Their best year came in their debut year in 1994 with three medals, and their only gold medal.

Kazakhstan at the 2026 Winter Olympics - 

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Kazakhstan has 36 athletes, 18 men and 18 women.

The athletes consist of:
9 freestyle skiers
7 cross-country skiers
5 speed skaters
4 biathlon
4 short-track speed skaters
2 alpine skiers
2 figure skaters
2 ski jumpers
1 Nordic combined

As of February 12th, they’ve yet to medal.

Kazakhstan’s Winter Olympic sports -

In their Winter Olympic history, Kazakhstan has been represented in;

Alpine Skiing
Cross-country Skiing
Figure skating
Freestyle Skiing
Toboggan
Nordic combined
Short track
Ski jumping
Snowboarding
Speed skating
Biathlon

Their most successful sport has been cross-country skiing, with four medals won, including one gold. They’ve also medaled in biathlon, figure skating, freestyle skiing, speed skating.

As mentioned earlier, Kazakhstan was in the same Olympic qualifier ice hockey group as Hungary, but they finished second in the group, being edged out for the final Olympic spot by Slovakia.

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Kyrgyzstan History at the Winter Olympics

You should be used to this by now, but…

Kyrgyzstan was a part of the Soviet Union in the Winter Olympics from 1952-1988. They were then part of the unified team in 1992, and started representing themselves as a sovereign nation in 1994.

Since then, they’ve had just one or two athletes at each Olympic Games, and are still in search of their first medal.

Kyrgyzstan at the 2026 Winter Olympics

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Armenia has two athletes, both men.

The athletes consist of:

Timur Shakirov: Men’s giant slalom, Men’s slalom
Artur Saparbekov: Men’s 10 km freestyle skiing, Men’s sprint skiing

As of February 12th, Shakirov hasn’t performed yet, and Saparbekov only competed Men’s sprint cross-country skiing, where he ranked 94th and did not advance to the next round.

Kyrgyzstan’s Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Kyrgyzstan has been represented in;
Alpine Skiing
Cross-country Skiing
Ski Jumping
Biathlon

Kyrgyzstan withdrew from the ice hockey Olympic Qualifiers before they could play in a game for unspecified reasons.

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Mongolia’s History at the Winter Olympics

Now, Mongolia may have a Soviet history, but it was never a part of the Soviet Union!

They’ve been participating in the Winter Olympics since 1964, with the only one they didn’t participate in being in 1976.

Despite participating in 16 different Winter Olympic Games, Mongolia has never even medalled.

Mongolia at the 2026 Winter Olympics

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Mongolia has three athletes, two men and one woman.

The athletes consist of:
Altanzulyn Ariunbat: Men’s slalom
Batmonkhiin Achbadrakh: Men’s 20 km skiathlon, men’s 10 km freestyle, men’s sprint skiing
Enkhbayaryn Ariuntungalag: Women’s 10 km freestyle, women’s sprint skiing

As of February 12th, we’ve seen them compete in four of their six competitions, but failing to medal in any of them.

Mongolia’s Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Armenia has been represented in;
Short Track
Cross-country Skiing
Speed Skating
Biathlon

Mongolia did not participate in the 2026 qualifiers for ice hockey, as they had just recently joined the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF).

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Serbia’s History at the Winter Olympics

Historically, Serbia participated in the Winter Olympics as part of Yugoslavia from 1924-1992, did not participate in 1994, and then as Serbia and Montenegro from 1998-2006, before finally making their debut as Serbia in 2010.

Since then, they’ve sent at least three athletes to every single Winter Olympic games, however the nation is still looking for their first medal.

Serbia’s at the 2026 Winter Olympics - 

At the 2026 Winter Olympics, Serbia has three athletes, two men and one woman.

The athletes consist of:

Aleksa Tomovic: Men’s giant slalom, men’s slalom
Milos Milosavljevic: Men’s 10 km freestyle, men’s cross-country sprint
Anja Ilic: Women’s 10 km freestyle, women’s cross-country sprint

As of February 12th, only Ilic has performed in the women’s 10 km freestyle, finishing 106th and failing to qualify for the next round.

Serbia’s Winter Olympic sports - 

In their Winter Olympic history, Armenia has been represented in;
Alpine Skiing
Cross-country Skiing
Snowboarding
Biathlon
Bobsleigh

Serbia made it to the third round of the ice hockey qualifiers, where they then finished last in their group behind Great Britain, Romania, and China.

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