Moldova at the 2018 Winter Olympics

{{Infobox country at games

| NOC = MDA

| year = 2018

| games = Winter Olympics

| games_link = 2018 Winter Olympics

| flagcaption = Flag of Moldova

| alt = Refer to caption

| NOCname = National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova

| website = {{URL|www.olympic.md}} {{in lang|ro}}

| location = Pyeongchang, South Korea

| date = 9–25 February 2018

| competitors = 2

| competitors_men = 2

| competitors_women =

| sports = 2

| events =

| flagbearer = Nicolae Gaiduc{{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|date=9 February 2018|work=International Olympic Committee (IOC)|access-date=10 February 2018}}

| flagbearer_open =

| flagbearer_close =

| rank =

| gold = 0

| silver = 0

| bronze = 0

| officials =

| appearances = auto

| seealso = auto

}}

Moldova participated at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea held between 9 and 25 February 2018. The country's participation in the Games marked its seventh appearance at the Winter Olympics since its debut in the 1994 Games.

The Moldovan team consisted of two athletes who competed across two sports. Skier Nicolae Gaiduc served as the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony. Moldova did not win any medal in the Games, and has not won a Winter Olympics medal as of these Games.

Background

Moldova achieved independence after the break-up of Soviet Union in 1991 and its National Olympic Committee was formed on 29 January 1991. As the National Olympic Committee of the Republic of Moldova was only recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1993, Moldovan athletes participated as a part of a unified team at the 1992 Summer Olympics at Barcelona. Moldavan athletes competed from 1952 to 1988 as a part of Soviet Union.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/countries/MDA|title=Moldova at the Olympics|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024}} The 1994 Winter Olympics marked Moldova's first participation as an independent nation in the Olympic Games. After the nation made its debut in the Winter Olympics at the 1994 Games, this edition of the Games in 2018 marked the nation's seventh appearance at the Winter Games.

The 2018 Winter Olympics was held in Pyeongchang held between 9 and 25 February 2018.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018|title=Pyeongchang 2018|work=Olympics.com|access-date=3 February 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/editions/60|title=2018 Winter Olympics|work=Olympedia|access-date=3 February 2024}}

The Moldovan team consisted of five athletes including two women, who competed across three sports.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/countries/MDA/editions/60|title=Moldova at the 2018 Winter Olympics|work=Olympedia|access-date=3 February 2024}}{{cite web|url=https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/MDA/winter/2018/|title=Moldova at 2018 Winter Olympics|work=Sports Reference|access-date=1 June 2001|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417092656/https://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/countries/MDA/winter/2018/|archive-date=17 April 2020}} Skier Nicolae Gaiduc served as the country's flag-bearer during the opening ceremony.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/flagbearers?edition_id=60|title=Flag bearers at the 2018 Winter Olympics|work=Olympedia|access-date=3 February 2024}} Moldova did not win any medal in the Games, and has not won a Winter Olympics medal as of these Games.

Competitors

Moldova sent two athletes who competed in two sports at the Games.

width=130\|Sport	width=60\|Men	width=60\|Women
class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 95%"
align=left\|Alpine skiing \| 1	0	1
align=left\|Cross-country skiing \| 1	0	1
Total \|\|2 \|\| 0 \|\|2

Alpine skiing

{{main article|Alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics|Alpine skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Qualification}}

Moldova qualified one male athlete for the alpine skiing events.{{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=5 December 2017 |work=International Ski Federation (FIS) |access-date=8 December 2017}} Hörl is an Austrian born skier, who switched to Moldova in 2015, because of his limited chances of making the Austrian team. Due to the nationality switch, he had to wait till the middle of 2017 to compete in the International Ski Federation events for Moldova.{{cite news|last=Rachersberger|first=Andreas|date=6 January 2018|title=Christopher Hörl auf exotischer Ski-Mission|trans-title=Christopher Hörl on an exotic ski mission|language=German|url=https://www.sn.at/sport/mixed/christopher-hoerl-auf-exotischer-ski-mission-22578115|work=Salzburger Nachrichten|location=Salzburg, Austria|access-date=6 January 2018}}{{cite news|url=https://ipn.md/en/christopher-horl-to-represent-moldova-at-olympic-games-7979_1039417.html|title=Christopher Horl to represent Moldova at the Olympic Games|work=IPN|access-date=1 June 2024}}

The Alpine skiing events were held at the Jeongseon Alpine Centre in Bukpyeong. The course for the events was designed by former Olympic champion Bernhard Russi. The weather was cold and windy during the events, and it was the coldest since the 1994 Winter Olympics at Lillehammer.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/editions/60/sports/ALP|title=Alpine skiing|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024}} In the men's downhill event, Hörl crossed the {{cvt|2965|m}} course in just over one minute and 45 seconds to be ranked 40th amongst the 55 competitors.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000100|title=Alpine skiing, downhill men|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024}} In the men's combined event, he did not register a finish.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000108|title=Alpine skiing, combined men|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
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\|Christopher Hörl \|align=left\|Men's combined \|1:22.25 \|41 \|colspan=2\|{{abbr\|DNS\|Did not start}} \|colspan=2\|{{abbr\|DNF\|Did not finish}}
align=center \|align=left\|Men's downhill \|colspan=4 {{n/a}} \|1:45.21 \|40

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

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|Christopher Hörl

|align=left|Men's combined

|1:22.25

|41

|colspan=2|{{abbr|DNS|Did not start}}

|colspan=2|{{abbr|DNF|Did not finish}}

align=center

|align=left|Men's downhill

|colspan=4 {{n/a}}

|1:45.21

|40

Cross-country skiing

File:Biathlon_European_Championships_2017_Sprint_Men_0651.JPG represented Moldova in the cross-country event]]

{{main article|Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics|Cross-country skiing at the 2018 Winter Olympics – Qualification}}

As per the standards laid down by the International Ski Federation, athletes with a maximum of 300 points in the stipulated period were allowed to compete in the distance event.{{cite web|url=https://data.fis-ski.com/media/olympic-games/2018/english-qs/owg-pyeongchang-2018-qualification-system-cross-country-skiing.pdf|title=Qualification Systems for XXIII Olympic Winter Games, PyeongChang|work=International Ski Federation|access-date=6 December 2017|archive-date=20 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180220072842/https://data.fis-ski.com/media/olympic-games/2018/english-qs/owg-pyeongchang-2018-qualification-system-cross-country-skiing.pdf|url-status=live}} Moldova qualified one male athlete for the cross-country event.{{cite web |url=https://data.fis-ski.com/dynamic/olympic-quotas-list.html?sectorcode=cc&listid=2018 |title=Cross-country Skiing Quota List for Olympic Games 2018 |date=20 December 2017|work=International Ski Federation (FIS) |access-date=21 December 2017}} Flag-bearer Nicolae Gaiduc made his debut at the Winter Olympics at the men's freestyle event.{{cite web |url=https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/cn/game-time/results/OWG2018/en/cross-country-skiing/athlete-profile-n3030523-nicolae-gaiduc.htm|title=Pyeongchang 2018|access-date=10 February 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180210180902/https://www.pyeongchang2018.com/cn/game-time/results/OWG2018/en/cross-country-skiing/athlete-profile-n3030523-nicolae-gaiduc.htm|archive-date=10 February 2018|url-status=live }}

The main event was held on 16 February 2018 at the Alpensia Cross-Country Skiing Centre.{{cite web|url=https://www.olympedia.org/results/9000277|title=15 kilometres (Freestyle), Men|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024}} Gaiduc completed the {{cvt|15|km}} course in 43:43.3.{{cite web|url=http://data.fis-ski.com/pdf/2018/CC/2158/2018CC2158RL.pdf|title=Final Results - Men's 15km classical|access-date=1 June 2018|date=16 February 2018|work=International Ski Federation|archive-date=24 July 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240724235833/http://data.fis-ski.com/pdf/2018/CC/2158/2018CC2158RL.pdf|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018/results/cross-country-skiing/mens-15km-free|title=Cross-country 15km classical, Men|work=Olympedia|access-date=1 June 2024|archive-date=7 December 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221207052359/https://olympics.com/en/olympic-games/pyeongchang-2018/results/cross-country-skiing/mens-15km-free|url-status=live}} He finished the race in 106nd position (out of 119 competitors), more than nine minutes behind the winner, Dario Cologna of Switzerland.{{efn|name=Gaiduc|Gaiduc finished 107th amongst those who had completed the course. He was classified in 102nd after five athletes were disqualified later.}}

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"
rowspan="2"\|Athlete !rowspan="2"\|Event !colspan="3"\|Final
style="font-size:95%" !Time !Deficit !Rank
align=center \|align=left\|Nicolae Gaiduc \|align=left\|Men's 15 km freestyle \|43:43.3 \| +9:59.4 \|102

class="wikitable" style="font-size:90%"

rowspan="2"|Athlete

!rowspan="2"|Event

!colspan="3"|Final

style="font-size:95%"

!Time

!Deficit

!Rank

align=center

|align=left|Nicolae Gaiduc

|align=left|Men's 15 km freestyle

|43:43.3