Uzbekistan became an independent country in 1991 following the dissolution of the Soviet Union, and competed with the Unified Team made up of several former Soviet Republics during the 1992 Winter and Summer Olympics. The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Uzbekistan was recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1993, and beginning with the 1994 Winter Olympics Uzbekistan began competing as an independent country. The country has participated in every Olympics, Summer and Winter, since 1994. The only Uzbekistani Winter Olympics medal was won by Lina Cheryazova, a freestyle skier, in 1994 in Lillehammer, Norway. The delegation sent to Vancouver in 2010 consisted of three competitors; two alpine skiers, Kseniya Grigoreva and Oleg Shamaev, and one figure skater, Anastasia Gimazetdinova. Shamaev was chosen as the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony.