By Joe Aura, aurajoe6@gmail.com
Kenya has long defined itself at the Olympics through spikes, stopwatches and podium finishes on the track. At the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, however, Team Kenya is making a deliberate statement: the country wants to be seen – and counted – beyond distance running.
That ambition sits within a wider continental shift. Fourteen African athletes from eight countries are competing in northern Italy, more than double the six athletes from five nations who represented Africa at the Beijing 2022 Winter Games. It is a modest number by global standards, but a significant leap for a continent traditionally locked out of winter sport.
While Kenya remains a global powerhouse in athletics, officials and athletes are increasingly pushing a broader Olympic identity. That message was underlined when marathon great Eliud Kipchoge was named Kenya’s flag bearer for the Winter Games – a powerful signal that Olympic ambition is no longer confined to the track.
Kenya’s Winter Olympics presence, however, has not been without setback. Austria-based alpine skier Sabrina Wanjiku Simader, the country’s pioneer in women winter sports and a former PyeongChang 2018 Olympian, withdrew from the Milano Cortina Games shortly before competition began. Simader cited financial and mental strain after the government failed to refund approximately Sh12.16 million in allowances and expenses from previous international championships.
She had come out of retirement in 2025 following assurances of support, including a Sh1.3 million budget request for the Games; support that ultimately did not materialise. Her withdrawal has reignited debate around institutional backing for non-traditional sports.
Kenya’s flag on the slopes will now be carried solely by Issa Laborde Gachiringi, an 18-year-old alpine skier making his senior Olympic debut. Born and raised in France to a Kenyan mother, Laborde previously represented Kenya at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games and is scheduled to compete in the giant slalom on February 14, 2026. His appearance continues a legacy that began with Philip Boit, Kenya’s first Winter Olympian, who competed in cross-country skiing at the Nagano 1998 Games.
South Africa leads the continental charge with a record five athletes, its largest Winter Olympic contingent ever. The country has historically been Africa’s winter sports trailblazer, becoming the first African nation to compete at the Winter Olympics in 1960 and later hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Morocco, another early pioneer, first appeared at the Winter Games in 1968, while Senegal followed in 1984.
Structural challenges remain stark. Only 15 of Africa’s 54 countries have ever sent athletes to the Winter Olympics. Warm climates, limited facilities and high costs mean most African winter athletes develop their skills abroad, often in Europe or North Africa.
By contrast, Africa’s dominance at the Summer Games remains overwhelming – at Paris 2024 alone; African athletes won more medals than the total number of Africans who competed at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.
Still, progress is unmistakable. No African athlete has yet won a Winter Olympic medal, but Milano Cortina is less about immediate podiums and more about presence, pathways and possibility.
For Kenya, stepping confidently beyond the track is part of a long-term vision – one that signals to Africa and the world that Olympic identity is evolving.
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