Albania at the 2018 Winter Olympics
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2018}}
{{Infobox country at games
| NOC = ALB
| year = 2018
| games = Winter Olympics
| games_link = 2018 Winter Olympics
| flagcaption = Flag of Albania
| alt = Refer to caption
| NOCname = Albanian National Olympic Committee
| website = {{url|nocalbania.org.al}} {{in lang|sq}}
| location = Pyeongchang, South Korea
| date = 9–25 February 2018
| competitors = 2
| competitors_men = 1
| competitors_women = 1
| sports = 1
| events =
| flagbearer = Suela Mëhilli
| flagbearer_open =
| flagbearer_close =
| rank =
| gold = 0
| silver = 0
| bronze = 0
| officials =
| appearances = auto
}}
Albania competed at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which were held from 9 to 25 February 2018. The country's participation in Pyeongchang marked its fourth appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in 2006. The athlete delegation of the country was composed of two people: Erjon Tola and Suela Mëhilli in alpine skiing. The nation had aimed for a delegation of three or four athletes.
Mëhilli first competed in the women's giant slalom though placed 53rd, and then did not finish in the Women's slalom. Two days later, Tola competed in the men's giant slalom and placed 47th. He then placed 36th in the men's slalom. Thus, Albania has yet to win a Winter Olympic medal.
Background
The 2018 Winter Olympics were held in Pyeongchang, South Korea, from 9 to 25 February 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250322161324/https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018 |archive-date=22 March 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=International Olympic Committee |title=PyeongChang 2018 |url-status=live }} This edition marked the nation's fourth appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy. The nation had never won a medal at the Winter Olympics, with its best performance coming from alpine skier Erjon Tola placing 35th in the men's giant slalom at the 2006 Winter Games.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/countries/ALB |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250203113021/https://www.olympedia.org/countries/ALB |archive-date=3 February 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Olympedia |title=Albania Overview |url-status=live }}
=Delegation and ceremonies=
Before the games, three athletes, namely Tola, Suela Mëhilli and Marsel Biçoku received Olympic scholarships for the preparations for the 2018 Winter Games. The Albanian National Olympic Committee aimed for the delegation to include either three or four athletes for the Winter Games, citing it would be their biggest Winter Olympic delegation. Tola had competed for the nation since the nation's debut while Mëhilli had competed at the last games.{{cite web |url=https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1045352/albanian-noc-backs-three-skiers-in-build-up-to-pyeongchang-2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250112163736/https://www.insidethegames.biz/articles/1045352/albanian-noc-backs-three-skiers-in-build-up-to-pyeongchang-2018 |archive-date=12 January 2025|title=Albanian NOC backs three skiers in build-up to Pyeongchang 2018|last=Palmer|first=Dan|date=1 January 2017|work=Inside the Games |access-date=17 June 2025}} The final delegation was composed of two athletes, Tola and Mëhilli and their coach Marko Teroni.{{cite web|url=http://www.ocnal.com/2018/02/albania-is-represented-by-two-skiers-in.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180211190031/http://www.ocnal.com/2018/02/albania-is-represented-by-two-skiers-in.html |archive-date=11 February 2018 |title=Albania is represented by two skiers in Winter Olympics 2018 |date=10 February 2018 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Oculus News |url-status=live }} They trained in Italy as the nation does not have proper training skiing facilities.{{cite web|url=https://www.tiranatimes.com/two-italy-based-skiers-represent-albania-at-south-koreas-winter-olympics/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250617142053/https://www.tiranatimes.com/two-italy-based-skiers-represent-albania-at-south-koreas-winter-olympics/ |archive-date=17 June 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Tirana Times |url-status=live |title=Two Italy-based skiers represent Albania at South Korea's Winter Olympics |date=6 February 2018 }}
The Albanian delegation came in 48th out of the 91 National Olympic Committees in the 2018 Winter Olympics Parade of Nations within the opening ceremony.{{cite web|title=Opening Ceremony Flagbearers - Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018|url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Winter-Games/Games-PyeongChang-2018-Winter-Olympic-Games/Ceremonies/PyeongChang-2018-Opening-Ceremony-Flagbearers.pdf#_ga=2.141341425.2132925313.1518270684-1570468165.1518270684 |access-date=17 June 2025 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180228001620/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Winter-Games/Games-PyeongChang-2018-Winter-Olympic-Games/Ceremonies/PyeongChang-2018-Opening-Ceremony-Flagbearers.pdf |archive-date=28 February 2018|date=9 February 2018|work=International Olympic Committee}} Mëhilli solely held the flag for the delegation in the parade.{{cite web|url=https://www.boston.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/10/what-every-country-wore-to-the-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102061455/https://www.boston.com/sports/olympics/2018/02/10/what-every-country-wore-to-the-2018-winter-olympics-opening-ceremony/ |archive-date=2 January 2024 |title=What every country wore to the 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Boston.com |last1=Dunphy |first1=Mark |date=10 February 2018 |url-status=live }} At the closing ceremony, she held the flag again.{{cite web|url=https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Winter-Games/Games-PyeongChang-2018-Winter-Olympic-Games/Ceremonies/PyeongChang-2018-Closing-Ceremony-Flag-Bearers.pdf#_ga=2.113408207.917758768.1519568732-1155673656.1518304175 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230418130335/https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/Winter-Games/Games-PyeongChang-2018-Winter-Olympic-Games/Ceremonies/PyeongChang-2018-Closing-Ceremony-Flag-Bearers.pdf#_ga=2.113408207.917758768.1519568732-1155673656.1518304175 |archive-date=18 April 2023 |access-date=17 June 2025 |title=Closing Ceremony Flagbearers - Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang 2018 |work=International Olympic Committee |url-status=live }}
Competitors
| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%"
|+ List of Albanian competitors at the 2018 Winter Olympics | |||
| width=100|Sport | width=60|Men | width=60|Women | width=60|Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| align=left|Alpine skiing
| 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Total ||1|| 1 ||2 |
Alpine skiing
{{main article|Alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics|Alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Qualification}}
Albania qualified two alpine skiers, one male and one female.{{cite web |url=https://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/olympic-quotas-list.html?sectorcode=al&listid=2018 |title=Alpine Skiing Quota List for Olympic Games 2018 |date=12 December 2017 |publisher=International Ski Federation |access-date=16 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180209194511/https://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/olympic-quotas-list.html?sectorcode=al&listid=2018 |archive-date=9 February 2018 |url-status=dead }}
The alpine skiing events were held at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre. Mëhilli competed first for the nation, competing in the women's giant slalom on 15 February. Her first run recorded a time of 1:24.67 while her second was at 1:21.90. With a combined time of 2:46.57 she placed 53rd in the event, while the winner was Mikaela Shiffrin of the United States with a combined time of 2:20.02.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000113 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250531045746/https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000113 |archive-date=31 May 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Olympedia |url-status=live |title=Giant Slalom, Women }} She then competed in the women's slalom the following day though did not finish her first run and thus did not have a second run. The winner of the event was Frida Hansdotter of Sweden in a time of 1:38.63.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000116 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119002510/https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000116 |archive-date=19 January 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Olympedia |url-status=live |title=Slalom, Women }}
Two days later, Tola competed in the men's giant slalom. His first run recorded a time of 1:16.86 while his second run was in a time of 1:16.77. With a combined time of 2:33.63 she placed 47th in the event, while Marcel Hirscher of Austria won the event with a combined time of 2:18.04.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000102 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210034751/https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000102 |archive-date=10 February 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Olympedia |url-status=live |title=Giant Slalom, Men }} He then competed in the men's slalom on 22 February, recording a time of 58.00 seconds for his first run and 59.06 seconds for his second run. With a combined time of 1:57.06 he placed 36th while André Myhrer of Sweden won with a combined time of 1:38.99.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000105 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250119083751/https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000105 |archive-date=19 January 2025 |access-date=17 June 2025 |work=Olympedia |url-status=live |title=Slalom, Men }}
| class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
|+ Alpine skiing summary |
| rowspan=2|Athlete
!rowspan=2|Event !colspan=2|Run 1 !colspan=2|Run 2 !colspan=2|Total |
|---|
| style="font-size:95%"
!Time !Rank !Time !Rank !Time !Rank |
| align=center
|align=left rowspan=2|Erjon Tola |align=left| Men's giant slalom |1:16.86 |54 |1:16.77 |49 |2:33.63 |47 |
| align=center
|align=left| Men's slalom |58.00 |45 |59.06 |35 |1:57.06 |36 |
| align=center
|align=left rowspan=2|Suela Mëhilli |align=left| Women's giant slalom |1:24.67 |60 |1:21.90 |54 |2:46.57 |53 |
| align=center
|align=left| Women's slalom |colspan=6|{{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}} |
See also
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Nations at the 2018 Winter Olympics}}
{{Country at games navbox|Albania|Olympics}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Albania At The 2018 Winter Olympics}}