By Maria Bagdasarova

(Featured Photo: © Asatur Yesayants / YantsImages )

At the Milano Cortina Olympics, Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin are the first pair skaters to represent Armenia at the Games since 2002. The pair secured their Olympic quota at the ISU Skate to Milano qualifying competition in Beijing in September 2025, re-establishing themselves on the international stage after more than a three-year hiatus. The path to the moment when Karina Akopova and Nikita Rakhmanin finally sat in a kiss-and-cry with “Armenia” next to their names was far from straightforward. As they prepare to compete on the Olympic ice this weekend, they have a clear objective in mind: to represent Armenia with confidence and pride on the world’s biggest stage.

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