2010 Opening Ceremony - Azerbaijan entering

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of t ...

sent a delegation to compete at the

2010 Winter Olympics )'' , nations = 82 , athletes = 2,626 , events = 86 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , opening = February 12, 2010 , closing = February 28, 2010 , opened_by = Governor General Michaëlle Jean , cauldron = Catriona Le May DoanNancy GreeneWayne Gret ...

Vancouver 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 ...

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

from 12–28 February 2010. This was Azerbaijan's fourth Olympic Winter Games, having appeared in each Winter Games since 1998 in

Nagano Nagano may refer to: Places * Nagano Prefecture, a prefecture in Japan ** Nagano (city), the capital city of the same prefecture *** Nagano 1998, the 1998 Winter Olympics *** Nagano Olympic Stadium, a baseball stadium in Nagano *** Nagano Universi ...

. The Azerbaijani delegation consisted of two alpine skiers,

Gaia Bassani Antivari Gaia Bassani Antivari (born July 8, 1978) is an Italian-born alpine skier who competed for Azerbaijan at the 2010 Winter Olympics, and 2014. She previously competed for Grenada, and attempted to compete for them at the 2002 Winter Olympics ...

and

Jedrij Notz Jedrij Notz (born 6 September 1974) is an Azerbaijani alpine skier who competed Azerbaijan at the 2010 Winter Olympics, at the 2010 Winter Olympics. Notz was the Groomsman, best man to Christopher O'Neill when O'Neill Wedding of Princess Madelein ...

. The nation's best finish was by Antivari, 57th place in the women's giant slalom.

Background

The National Olympic Committee of the Azerbaijani Republic was created in 1992 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and was recognized by the

International Olympic Committee The International Olympic Committee (IOC; french: link=no, Comité international olympique, ''CIO'') is a non-governmental sports organisation based in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is constituted in the form of an association under the Swiss ...

on 1 January 1993. Azerbaijan has sent delegations to every Olympics since the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

, first entering the Winter Olympics in Nagano in 1998. While the nation has won many medals in the Summer Olympics, as of the close of the Vancouver Olympics, they have never medalled in the Winter Olympics. The Azerbaijani delegation to Vancouver consisted of two alpine skiers,

and

. Fuad Guliyev, an official, was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, while Konul Nurullayera, the

chef de mission In diplomatic usage, head of mission (HOM) or chief of mission (COM) from the French "chef de mission diplomatique" (CMD) is the head of a diplomatic representation, such as an ambassador, high commissioner, nuncio, chargé d'affaires, perman ...

, performed the flag bearer duties for the

closing 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.

Alpine skiing

Gaia Bassani Antivari was 31 years old at the time of the Vancouver Olympics, and was making her only appearance at the Olympics. Jedrij Notz was 35 years old, and likewise making his only appearance at an Olympic Games. On 23 February, Notz took part in the men's giant slalom, posting run times of 1 minute and 30 seconds and 1 minute and 35 seconds. His combined time of 3 minutes and 6 seconds put him in 72nd place for the competition, out of 81 competitors to finish both legs of the race. The next day, 24 February, Antivari raced in the women's giant slalom. Due to challenging weather conditions, the second run of the race was ran on 25 February. On Wednesday she finished her first leg in a time of 1 minute and 30 seconds, and improved her time on the day after to 1 minute and 26 seconds. Her combined time of 2 minutes and 56 seconds put her into 57th position for the competition. On 26 February, she ran in the women's slalom, but failed to finish the first leg. On Saturday, in the last race in Vancouver, Notz would have the same fate as his compatriot in the men's slalom, also failing to finish.

References

{{country at games navbox, Azerbaijan, Olympics Olympics Nations at the 2010 Winter Olympics 2010

Background

Alpine skiing

See also

References