Bratsk luge athlete Daria Olesik to compete in 2026 Olympics

Daria Olesik, a native of Bratsk and member of the Russian luge team, will participate in the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will take place from February 6 to 22 in Milan and Cortina d«Ampezzo. Here»s what we know about our fellow countrywoman.

Daria Olesik is 21 years old. According to the Russian Luge Federation website, she started her career in Bratsk. After the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, she decided to join a luge section, where she trained under Kristina Pashkova and Yulia Kravchenko. She then moved to Dmitrov near Moscow, where she trains under Alexandra Parfentyeva.

She has been in the Russian junior national team since 2018. She became a bronze medalist at the Russian girls« singles luge championship, won first place in the »Youth Cup«, and was the winner of the Irkutsk Region Open Luge Championship.

She is a bronze medalist at the Russian championships in 2022 and 2023, the 2024 champion in sprint, and the vice-champion in 2025.

She prefers active leisure with friends and enjoys spending time with family, loves cooking and reading Stephen King books. She has a white blue-eyed cat named Tigra and a parrot named Graf. As a child, she dreamed of becoming a dentist.

Russian athletes have been allowed to participate in the 2026 Olympics under neutral status. Under this status, athletes are not permitted to use national symbols — the flag, anthem, and coat of arms. The athletes will compete under the abbreviation AIN (Athlete Individuel Neutre — translated from English as «individual neutral athletes». — Ed. note). To read about which other Russians have made it to the Olympic team, you can visit our website.