Tajikistan at the 2006 Winter Olympics

The National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Tajikistan was first recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1993, and Tajikistan made its Olympic debut at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics.[1][2] The nation debuted at the Winter Olympic Games in 2002 in Salt Lake City, and was making its second Winter Olympics appearance in Turin.[2] The Tajikistani delegation to Turin consisted of one alpine skier, Andrei Drygin.[3] He was the flag bearer for the opening ceremony[4]while Abdugafar Sharipov performed the duties for the closing ceremony.[5] Sharipov was a non-competitor at these Olympics however, he was listed by the IOC as an alpine skier.[5]

Andrei Drygin was 28 years old at the time of the Turin Olympics.[6] He had previously represented Tajikistan at the 2002 Winter Olympics.[6] According to the official report of these Olympics, he finished last in each of the first two downhill training runs.[7] His performance in the actual race of the downhill, held on 12 February, was better. He finished the race in a time of 1 minute and 59.41 seconds, good for 51st place out of 53 competitors who completed the competition.[8] On 18 February he took part in the super-G, finishing in a time of 1 minute and 37.85 seconds, again finishing 51st, this time out of 56 classified finishers.[9] On 20 February, in the giant slalom, he failed to finish the first run.[10] Drygin would go on to represent Tajikistan again four years later at the Vancouver Olympics.[6]