The Cyprus Olympic Committee was first recognised by the International Olympic Committee in 1978, and the nation has participated in every Summer Olympics and Winter Olympic Games since debuting in 1980. At the time of the Turin Olympics, no Cypriot athlete had ever won a medal. They would win their first medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics six years after Turin. This was their eighth appearance at a Winter Olympic Games. The only athlete sent by Cyprus to Turin was an alpine skier, Theodoros Christodoulou. He was the flag bearer for both the opening ceremony and the closing ceremony.