North Macedonia (MKD)

From 1924 to 1988 a few Yugoslav Olympians were from the Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The best represented sport at the Olympics among Macedonians was wrestling. Both Šaban Trstena and Šaban Šejdi from Skopje won two wrestling medals at the Olympics between 1980 and 1988. Two Macedonians also competed in the 1992 Olympics, as Independent Olympic Participants.

This former Yugoslav republic declared its independence from Yugoslavia on 8 September 1991. The Olympic Committee of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia was formed in 1992 and recognized by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1993. The republic first competed at the Olympic Games as an independent nation in 1996 and at the Olympic Winter Games in 1998. It has been represented at every Olympic Games since then.

The name of the nation, since its independence from Yugoslavia, has been very controversial. Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia, and Albania all lay claim to regions of (historical) Macedonia, and the name. The European Community recognized Macedonia’s independence, but only under the name “Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia” (FYROM), which was also used by the IOC. In late 2004, the United States controversially recognized Macedonia under the name “Republic of Macedonia”. The country’s name was changed in 2019 to North Macedonia after negotiations with the Greek government.

At the 2000 Olympics, North Macedonia won its first Olympic medal as an independent nation, with a bronze by Mogamed Ibragimov in light-heavyweight freestyle wrestling. The NOC’s second medal came at Tokyo 2020, when taekwondoka Dejan Georgievski won the silver in the men’s heavyweight class.

North Macedonia, as FYRO Macedonia, first competed at the Olympic Winter Games in 1998 and has appeared at every Winter celebration since. North Macedonians have competed to date in only two disciplines, Alpine and cross-country skiing.

North Macedonia has not won a Winter Olympic medal, with their best finish to date by Antonio Ristevski in 2014 men’s slalom, in which he finished 29th. Both Ristevski (2010-2018) and cross-country skier Darko Damjanovski (2006-2014) have competed at three Olympic Winter Games, with Ristevski carrying the Lithuanian flag at the 2010 Opening Ceremony and Damjanovski doing so at Sochi 2014.

In the Ancient Olympics, it is known that Macedonians, then part of Ancient Greece, won 13 championships, including four in the stadion (sprint) event. Two of these were consecutive by Antigonos in 292-288 BCE. The greatest Olympic champion of ancient Macedonia was Philip II, King of Macedonia and the father of Alexander the Great, who won three Olympic titles.