Armenia became an independent nation again following the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The National Olympic Committee of Armenia was recognized by the International Olympic Committee on 31 December 1992. Armenia participated in their first Olympics in Lillehammer at the 1994 Winter Olympics, and has sent a delegation to every Summer and Winter Olympics since. While Armenia has won multiple medals at the Summer Olympics, they had never won a Winter Olympics medal as of the close of these Vancouver Olympics. The Armenian delegation to Vancouver consisted of four athletes, two in alpine skiing and two in cross-country skiing. Alpine skier Arsen Nersisyan was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony, while cross-country skier Sergey Mikayelyan was chosen as flag bearer for the closing ceremony.