Armenian athletes will be competing alongside other countries at the 2026 Winter Olympics: brothers from France and a star from Russia

Tomorrow, February 6, the 2026 Winter Olympics kick off in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, Italy. Team Armenia will include 5 athletes in 3 disciplines. However, beyond Team Armenia, there will be several athletes of Armenian descent representing other countries, which may increase interest in the Games. Notably, there are intriguing personalities among the delegations of Cyprus, France, and Russia (AIN).

Cyprus
Representing Cyprus will be 29-year-old alpine skier Yiannos Kouyoumdjian. This is his second Olympics. In 2022, he was the only Cypriot athlete; in 2026, he’ll be joined by Andrea Loizidou.

Kouyoumdjian will compete in slalom and giant slalom, as will Armenia’s Harutyun Harutyunyan. In 2022, Kouyoumdjian placed 42nd in giant slalom but didn’t finish in slalom.

He is half Armenian—his father is Armenian and his mother, Lina Aristodimou, is a former Olympian who competed in alpine skiing in 1980.

Medal chances: none
Competition dates: February 14 (Giant Slalom), February 16 (Slalom)

France
France’s delegation includes two brothers from Marseille—Terence and Melvin Tchiknavorian. For 33-year-old Terence, this is his third Olympics; for 28-year-old Melvin, his first.

They compete in ski cross, a freestyle event with obstacles and jumps on a fast-paced course. France traditionally excels in this sport, and the Tchiknavorians earned their spots through tough qualification rounds.

Terence finished 28th in 2018 and 18th in 2022. In the 2025 World Cup rankings, Terence was 20th and Melvin 8th. Notably, Terence ranked 2nd in the world in 2022.

Medal chances: small but realistic
Competition date: February 21

Russia (AIN)
One of Russia’s biggest hopes is figure skater Adelia Petrosyan, one of 13 Russian participants. She’s a 3-time national champion and the country’s main gold medal contender.

She hasn’t competed internationally in a long time, except for the Olympic Qualifier in Beijing, where she won confidently. Her main obstacles are lack of international exposure and a recent groin injury, which limited her quad jumps in Beijing—but she still won gold. If healthy, she’s the top favorite.

Medal chances: very high
Competition dates: February 17 (Short Program), February 19 (Free Skate)

Why aren’t they competing for Armenia?
Kouyoumdjian’s skill level isn’t above Harutyun Harutyunyan, and he’s significantly below Gleb Mosesov, who was controversially left off the Armenian team.

As for the Tchiknavorian brothers, Armenia has no freestyle skiing federation, no tracks, and no infrastructure for the sport. They couldn't have represented Armenia due to technical limitations. Perhaps in the future, they’ll help grow the sport there.

Interestingly, in 1998 Armenia had one freestyle skier—Armen Rafayelyan—who finished 19th in moguls.

Adelia Petrosyan was offered Armenian sports citizenship (like the pair Akopova/Rahmanin who will compete for Armenia), but she declined—likely due to Russia’s massive investment in her and high expectations. Armenia likely couldn’t compensate for that investment.