Africa at the 2026 Winter Olympics: 13 Athletes Compete in Milan-Cortina
- The February 6th opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in the Italian Alps marks a growing, if still modest, presence of African athletes at the Games.
- While African nations consistently achieve strong results at the Summer Olympics – securing 39 medals, including 13 gold, at the 2024 Paris Games – participation in winter sports...
- This year’s delegation will compete across alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, and skeleton.
The opening of the 2026 Winter Olympics in the Italian Alps marks a growing, if still modest, presence of African athletes at the Games. Thirteen sportspeople from eight African nations will compete in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, a record for the continent, though Africa remains without a medal in Winter Olympic history.
While African nations consistently achieve strong results at the Summer Olympics – securing 39 medals, including 13 gold, at the Paris Games – participation in winter sports has historically been limited by geographical and infrastructural challenges. Nevertheless, the number of African athletes competing in winter events has steadily increased since its first participation in .
This year’s delegation will compete across alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, freestyle skiing, and skeleton. According to Olympics.com, South Africa boasts the largest team with five athletes, while Benin and Guinea-Bissau will make their Winter Olympic debuts with one athlete each. Madagascar, Morocco, and Kenya will each send two athletes, and Nigeria and Eritrea will each be represented by a single competitor.
Nathan Tchibozo of Benin and Winston Tang of Guinea-Bissau are the first athletes from their respective nations to qualify for the Winter Olympics. Madagascar’s Mialitiana Clerc is poised to become the first female athlete from the continent to compete in three Winter Olympics, having previously participated in and .
The participation of these athletes represents a significant increase from the Beijing Winter Olympics, where only six athletes from five African countries competed. This growth is attributed to increased determination, diaspora pathways, and international training opportunities, despite limited access to snow and winter sports infrastructure across much of the continent.
A History of African Participation
South Africa was the first African nation to participate in the Winter Olympics, sending a team to . However, political boycotts related to apartheid led to a hiatus in South African participation until , when Dino Quattrocecere and Cindy Meyer competed in Lillehammer, Norway. Morocco followed as the second African nation to participate, entering the Games in in Grenoble, France.
Senegal first appeared at the Winter Olympics in in Sarajevo, while Ghana made its debut in in Vancouver, Canada, thanks to Kwame Nkrumah-Acheampong, who competed in the men’s slalom. Between and , a total of 15 African countries have participated in the Winter Olympics, including Algeria, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Zimbabwe.
Moments of Connection and Trailblazers
The story of Kenyan cross-country skier Philip Boit encapsulates the spirit of African participation in the Winter Olympics. Competing in , , and , Boit finished last in the 10km classic cross-country skiing event at the Nagano Games in . However, the moment became iconic when Norwegian world champion Bjorn Daehlie personally congratulated Boit at the finish line, a gesture captured by media worldwide.
More recently, athletes like Sabrina Wanjiku Simader of Kenya have broken new ground. She was Kenya’s first female alpine skier to compete in the Winter Olympics, making her debut in . While she was slated to compete in Milan-Cortina, organizers have reported she had to withdraw at the last minute.
Mialitiana Clerc of Madagascar is also making history, becoming the first woman from the African continent to compete in three Winter Olympics. Clerc, who grew up in the French Alps after being adopted as an infant, maintains close ties to her family in Madagascar. “I feel lucky because, yeah, there are not a lot of African women in the world of skiing,” she told Olympics.com.
Lamine Gueye of Senegal also stands as a pioneer, becoming the first skier from sub-Saharan Africa to compete in the Winter Olympics at the Sarajevo Games. Having discovered skiing during boarding school in Switzerland, Gueye founded the Senegalese Ski Federation in and competed in three Winter Olympics, five World Championships, and 25 World Cups.
Gueye continues to advocate for greater African participation in the Winter Olympics, working to overcome the challenges posed by limited resources and infrastructure. The increasing number of athletes from the continent competing in Milan-Cortina represents a step towards realizing that goal, and a testament to the dedication and perseverance of African athletes pursuing their dreams on the global stage.