Torkel Engeness

Torkel Engeness (born August 14 1972 in Drøbak, Norway) was the first ever Olympic flag bearer for the nation of Kyrgyzstan despite being a Norwegian citizen and having no connection to Kyrgyzstan.

This curious event occurred because Engeness was designated to be the translator for the Kyrgyzstan Olympic team that for the first time ever was to compete as an independent nation in the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer. Unfortunately, the Kyrgyz team did not arrive in time for the opening ceremony and since each participating team needed their flag carried into the stadium, it was decided that Torkel as their translator was the closest thing to a Kyrgyz and therefore was given this honor.

Engeness grew up in Trondheim. He studied Physics at M.I.T. in Boston, Massachusetts where he received a B.S. and a Ph.D.. After his studies he worked two years for Omniguide Communications, a high tech start-up focusing on fiber optics and for an international consultancy both in Oslo (Norway) and Helsinki (Finland). In 2007, he decided to change his location to Moscow/Russia.