Kazakhstan Wins First Winter Olympic Gold in 32 Years at Milan-Cortina

The XXV Winter Olympic Games were held from February 6 to 22, 2026, in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. The major quadrennial event featured 2,917 athletes from 94 nations competing for 116 medal sets across 16 sports.

Team Kazakhstan was represented by 36 athletes (18 men and 18 women) in ten disciplines: figure skating, speed skating, short track speed skating, freestyle aerials, freestyle moguls, ski jumping, alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, biathlon, and Nordic combined. Kazakh athletes participated in the competition for 49 medal sets.

The national team's composition was notable for its broad geographical representation within the country and was the largest over the last four Olympic cycles. Athletes hailed from eleven regions: the cities of Almaty, Astana, and Shymkent; Akmola Region; East Kazakhstan Region; Almaty Region; Pavlodar Region; Kostanay Region; North Kazakhstan Region; Karaganda Region; and Abai Region. For comparison, ten regions were represented at the 2022 Winter Games, nine in 2018, and ten in 2014.

The headline achievement of the Games was Mikhail Shaidorov's gold medal in men's single figure skating on February 13. This victory marked Kazakhstan's first gold medal at a Winter Olympics in 32 years and its first-ever Olympic gold in figure skating. Previously, Denis Ten's bronze at the 2014 Games remained the country's only Olympic medal in this sport—Kazakhstan had no participants in this discipline at the 2022 Olympics. Before this success, Kazakhstan's last Winter Olympic victory dated back to 1994 when cross-country skier Vladimir Smirnov became an Olympic champion.

Team Kazakhstan finished in nineteenth place among the ninety-four participating nations, surpassing several countries traditionally strong in winter sports such as Finland and Belgium. This marked its first top-twenty finish since that same year of success back in '94.

Kazakh athletes demonstrated a series of world-class competitive results across multiple sports. In figure skating debutante Sofia Samodelkina (19) placed tenth with a personal best total score of 207.46, setting a new benchmark for Kazakh women’s figure skating at an Olympics.

In speed skating Nadezhda Morozova finished sixth over 3000 meters and tenth over 5000 meters, which is Kazakhstan’s best result since 1998. Elizaveta Golubeva placed seventh over 1500 meters, cracked into top-ten rankings over 3000 meters, while women’s team pursuit squad made it into top eight overall standings too—Evgeniy Koshkin also secured ninth spot during men’s sprint competition ( ) . Freestyle aerials mixed-team event saw our compatriots finishing seventh overall as well!

A significant progress has been achieved by representatives from other disciplines too: ski jumper Ilya Mizernykh ( ) , aged just nineteen years old now took eighth place on large hill – becoming best-ever performer representing Republic throughout entire history competing here! Short-track specialist Denis Nikisha improved upon his previous performance finishing seventh after competing fiercely against others around him… Meanwhile freestyle mogul skiers Anastasia Gorodko ( ) & Pavel Kolmakov both managed breaking through barriers reaching Top Ten positions respectively – they significantly outperformed themselves compared what happened earlier during last edition held four years ago!

The overall performance by National Team Republic Of Kazakhstan during XXVth edition demonstrates steady positive dynamics alongside expanding competitiveness internationally while forming new generation high-level athletes simultaneously confirming effectiveness systematic state policy development winter sports strengthening regional infrastructure preparing teams consistently towards major international competitions ahead.