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Russian athlete Daria Olesik will compete at the 2026 Olympics: who is she and what is she known for
Daria Olesik is one of the main hopes of Russian luge. In 2024, she became the champion of Russia and will now represent the country at the 2026 Olympics in a neutral status. The games will be held from 6 to 22 February in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo. For more information about who she is and how she became famous in the sports arena, see the Izvestia article.
Biography of Daria Olesik
Daria Olesik was born on May 19, 2004 in Bratsk (Irkutsk region). As a child, she practiced dancing and aikido and dreamed of becoming a dentist. However, fate decreed otherwise. Daria became interested in luge after she saw the 2014 Olympics broadcast on TV. Mom noticed her daughter's interest and convinced her to try herself in this sport. Daria enrolled in the section, but when she got to the spring and summer training period, she did not see the sleigh, which is why she lost interest in classes. Mom persuaded the young athlete to wait until winter to try sledding. In the same season, the girl went on the ice for the first time and took part in competitions, where she took first place.
Daria started her career at the Olympus Olympic Reserve Sports School in Bratsk, and then continued her studies at the Albert Demchenko Olympic Reserve School in Dmitrov, Moscow Region.
At the same time, Olesik received a diploma in hospitality management from the Dmitrov Institute of Continuing Education (a branch of Dubna State University). In her thesis, the athlete explored the possibility of introducing a special menu in hotels for health-conscious guests who want to maintain a diet during their holidays.
Daria Olesik's sports career
According to Olesik herself, tobogganing was initially a hobby for her, which eventually turned into a profession. She noted that the adrenaline and the wide range of emotions she experiences during training and competition cannot be obtained anywhere else. Each descent requires solving certain tasks, and it is from this that the final result in the competition is formed.
Olesik's coaches over the years were Alexander Stoyanov, Kristina Pashkova and Yulia Kravchenko. Later, she moved on to Alexandra Parfentieva, the mentor of three-time Russian champion Pavel Repilov. Daria made her debut in the junior national team in 2018.
Already in November 2018, the athlete declared herself by taking second place at the Youth Cup. In December of the same year, she won the Junior Luge Cup in Sochi in her age group.
In March 2019, Olesik took third place at the Russian Junior Championships. At the end of the year, she won bronze medals at the World Junior Championships in Altenberg and Koenigssee, Germany.
February 2021 brought the athlete a silver medal at the Russian championship among girls aged 16-17 in single-person sledge. In March of the same year, she participated in the Russian Championship, where she showed the fifth result among women in single—man sled and the eighth in the sprint. In December 2021, Daria won silver and bronze medals at the World Junior Cup in France.
In 2022, Olesik finished third in the individual race and sprint at the Russian Championships. In May, she received the title of Master of Sports. After the start of the military operation in Ukraine, the Congress of the International Luge Federation (FIL) banned Russian athletes from competing in international tournaments, which, according to Daria, deprived her and other Russian luge athletes of the opportunity to gain experience on different tracks. She noted that before that they had trained and competed mainly abroad — in Latvia, Germany, Austria and France — and each track was unique, with different specifics of work.
Despite the limitations, Daria continued to show good results. In November 2022, she took fourth place at the Cup of Cups, and in December she became the bronze medalist of the Fed Cup in the relay as part of the Moscow Region team.
In February 2023, at the I.V. Ivanov Memorial Cup, Olesik took third place both in the individual race and in the relay race. At the Russian Winter Youth Spartakiad, she managed to win gold medals in the individual competition and relay. At the Russian Championships of the same year, she finished third in the single sled and fourth in the sprint. At the end of 2023, Daria successfully competed at the Cup of Russia, adding bronze and silver medals to her achievements, and took first place in the sprint at the I.V. Ivanov Memorial Cup in December 2023.
Daria Olesik (Moscow Region), Sofia Mazur (Krasnoyarsk Territory) and Victoria Demchenko (Moscow Region) (from left to right) after competing at the All-Russian Winter Sports Contest
February 2024 was a special year for the athlete. She won silver at the All-Russian Spartakiad in her discipline, and her team took third place in the relay. A week later, Olesik became the Russian sprint champion for the first time in her career. At the end of the year, she won three more silver medals at the Russian Cup — in the individual race, sprint and relay.
Daria started the year 2025 by winning the sprint Cup. At these competitions, she also took second place in the individual race and third in the relay race. She won silver and bronze medals at the Russian Championships, cementing her status as one of the country's leading luge athletes.
The personal life of Daria Olesik
In her free time from training, Daria Olesik prefers to spend time with friends and family. She has two pets, a cat named Tigger and a parrot named Count. Daria is fond of cooking and especially loves Russian and Japanese cuisine. Among the athlete's favorite authors is Stephen King. Besides luge, she enjoys curling and volleyball.
After completing her sports career, Daria plans to connect her life with the hotel business and dreams of owning her own hotel, for example in Sochi.
Daria Olesik's performances at the 2026 Olympics
Luge competitions at the 2026 Winter Olympics will be held from 4 to 12 February in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.
Daria Olesik will compete in the women's Single Sledge competition. Her races at the Olympics are scheduled for the following dates:
Monday, February 9th
• 19:00 — check-in 1
• 20:32 — check-in 2
Tuesday, February 10th
• 19:00 — check-in 3
• 20:41 — Race 4 (final)
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
