Kyrgyzstan at the Olympics
Kyrgyzstan first competed at the Olympic Games in 1996. Prior to this, athletes from the region of Kyrgyzstan competed at the Olympic Games under the former country of the Soviet Union.
Kyrgyzstan was part of the Russian Empire delegation to the Olympic Games from 1900 to 1912. In 1952 to 1988, they were part of the Soviet Union delegation. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, they were part of the Unified Team in 1992.
The Kyrgyz Republic established the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan (KGZ) in 1991 and was officially accepted and welcomed by the International Olympic Committee two years later. This paved the way for Kyrgyzstan to be able to participate in the Summer Games for the first time in 1996 by sending a delegation of athletes to represent them in a number of sports including athletics, boxing, cycling, judo, swimming, wrestling, etc.
That year, Atlanta was not kind to Kyrgyzstan but they made an impact in Sydney, Australia where they won their first-ever official Olympic medal since their independence. In November 16, 2000, judoka Aidyn Smagulov took the bronze for the men's 60kg weight class. Kyrgyzstan will have to wait until Smagulov's medal will be followed by Greco-wrestlers Kanatbek Begaliev (66 kg) and Ruslan Tyumenbayev (60) who won the silver and bronze in their respective weight classes.
In Lillehammer, Norway, Kyrgyzstan made their debut for the Summer Games in 1994. Kyrgyzstan was able to attend all of the Winter Olympics since then but they are yet to win their first medal from the Winter Games.
Related Pages
- Kyrgyzstan at the Winter Olympics
- Information about the Soviet Union at the Olympics.
- Russian Empire at the Olympics.
- More trivia from each Country at the Olympic Games
- About sport in Kyrgyzstan
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