Nicolae Gaiduc

Nicolae Gaiduc (born 23 July 1996) is a Moldovan skier who competed in biathlon and cross-country skiing. He represented Moldova at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He served as his nation's flag-bearer at the Parade of Nations in the opening and closing ceremonies at the Games.

Early life Nicolae Gaiduc was born on 23 July 1996 at Ungheni in the Ungheni district of Moldova. He is affiliated with the Club Sportiv Central Dinamo at Chișinău. Gaiduc began practicing cross-country skiing at the age of 14 at the Dinamo training grounds under Nadejda Bria.

Career Initial years (2011-2017) In 2011, Gaiduc made his international debut in the biathlon event in a tournament held in Slovakia, and secured first place in the sprint race. Next year, he took part in the Balkan championship, and finished second in the Biathlon event.

In 2013, he competed in the biathlon event at the European Youth Olympic Festival in Brașov. In 2017, he took part in his first FIS Nordic World Ski Championships held at Lahti in Finland. He continued to participate in various international events such as the Eastern European Cup in Ukraine. In January 2018, he participated in the Balkan cup competitions held at Ravna Gora as a prelude to the 2018 Winter Olympics. As per the final quota allocation released on 20 January 2014, Moldova was allocated one place for the distance event under the basic quota. Gaiduc served as his nation's flag-bearer at the Parade of Nations in the opening ceremony at the Games. Gaiduc made his debut at the Winter Olympics at the men's freestyle event. He was ranked 102nd amongst the 115 participants in the event. He also served as his country's flag-bearer during the closing ceremony.

After the Olympics, he represented Moldova in the FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2019 held at Seefeld and the Alpen Cup in Ulrichen.