The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan was first recognized by the International Olympic Committee in 1993, and Tajikistan made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics. The nation made its Winter Olympic Games debut in 2002 in Salt Lake City, and was making its third Winter Olympics appearance in Vancouver. The country has never won a Winter Olympics medal. The Tajikistani delegation in these Olympics consisted of a single alpine skier, Andrei Drygin, who was making his third appearance at the Winter Olympics. Alisher Kudratov, an alpine skier who was not competing in these Olympics, was chosen as the flag bearer for the opening ceremony and official Alisher Quadraton was the flag bearer for the closing ceremony. Kudratov would go on to represent Tajikistan four years later in the Sochi Olympics.