Cyprus (CYP)

Several athletes of Cypriot nationality competed in 1896, representing Greece, and this continued to occur through 1976. The Cyprus National Olympic Committee was formed on 10 June 1974 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in April 1979, at the IOC session in Montevideo. Since making its official Olympic début in 1980, Cyprus has competed at every Summer Olympics.

Its first Olympic participation, however, occurred at the Olympic Winter Games in 1980, in Lake Placid, and it has sent competitors to every Winter Olympics since, appearing 12 times on Olympic snow. “Olympic snow” is an important distinction, as Cyprus has only competed in Alpine skiing at the Olympic Winter Games, with 16 athletes (13 men and three women). Their top finish to date has been 21st, by Lina Aristodimou in 1984 slalom.

Through 2008 all of Cyprus’s Olympic placements better than 10th place occurred in one event – skeet shooting, which has occurred as follows: 1996 men – Antonis Andreou – =9th; 2000 men – Antonis Andreou – 8th; 2000 women – Sofia Miaouli – =9th; 2004 men – Giorgos Akhilleos – =8th; 2008 men – Antonis Nikolaidis – 4th and Giorgos Akhilleos – 5th; and 2008 women – Antri Eleftheriou – 7th. In 2012 Cyprus won its first Olympic medal, in sailing, when Pavlos Kontides won silver in men’s one person Dinghy.