International Alpine Skiing Competition Kicks Off in Azerbaijan

Jerusalem, 8 January, 2026 (TPS-IL) -- Gusar (AZERTAC) – The Azerbaijan Open international alpine skiing tournament, jointly organized by the Azerbaijan Winter Sports Federation and the “Shahdag” Tourism Center, kicked off on Thursday.

The opening ceremony of the event was attended by Minister of Youth and Sports Farid Gayibov and President of the Winter Sports Federation Fuad Nagiyev.

AZERTAC ‘s regional correspondent reports that 20 female athletes from Azerbaijan, Switzerland, Hungary, Slovenia, Georgia, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Nepal, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan in different age categories participated in the tournament. Azerbaijani alpine skier Anastasia Papatoma represents our country in the competition.

On the first day of the tournament, athletes competed in the slalom event of alpine skiing, striving for high results.

According to the results of the competition, Georgian athlete Nino Thklauri took first place, Swedish athlete Nikita Anner took second place, and Uzbek skier Ksenia Brezhnaya took third place.

Within the framework of the tournament, a briefing was organized on cooperation and future projects between the Winter Sports Federation and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, including the work done to promote winter sports in Azerbaijan, create infrastructure, and hold sports events.

The tournament will continue until January 10. In the following days, athletes will compete for the first place in the slalom and giant slalom events.

In May, a five-year partnership agreement was signed between the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) and Azerbaijan’s State Tourism Agency for the development of winter tourism and winter sports, as well as Azerbaijan’s hosting of prestigious international winter sports competitions.

The agreement envisages joint cooperation in improving winter tourism infrastructure, transforming Azerbaijan into an attractive winter tourism destination for foreign tourists, and organizing international ski competitions at the Shahdag Tourism Center. According to the agreement, Azerbaijan will act as a “Global Destination Partner” in global competitions organized by FIS for a five-year period.

This includes Azerbaijan hosting for the first the final stage of the Mogul World Cup in March.