Two weeks of competition wraps up in Italy this weekend as the Winter Olympics draws to a close. While the medal table is, unsurprisingly, dominated by northerly and Alpine nations, the Milan and Cortina event saw a record 15 African athletes from eight countries taking part.
Several of African athletes that did make it to this year’s Winter Olympics are dual nationals. Madagascan skier Mialitiana Clerc (pictured above), for example, grew up in the French Alps. Guinea-Bissau bestowed nationality on Taiwanese-American skier Winston Tang, the son of a prominent investor in the country’s cashew industry, shortly before the games.
None of these African competitors came close to winning a medal; in fact, no African athlete has ever stepped onto the podium at a Winter Olympics. Tropical countries are never likely to become dominant players at sports played on snow and ice.
On thin ice
Yet there is a smattering of winter sports facilities dotted around the continent. Skiing and snowboarding are possible in high altitude areas at Africa’s northern and southern edges.
Indoor ice rinks, where figure skating, speed skating and ice hockey are practiced, are less dependent on weather conditions. These are few and far between in Africa, however. The Panari Ice Rink in Nairobi is the only such venue in eastern or central Africa.
Peter Pilz, president of Snow Sports South Africa, says his country has a “good market” for winter sports. He notes that as many as 50,000 South Africans travel abroad for ski holidays, meaning local venues have the potential to attract an affluent demographic looking to hone their skills.
Another advantage, he adds, is that Southern African slopes can attract skiers from Europe and North America during the Northern Hemisphere summer.
Skiing? Try Lesotho
However, the only ski resort in South Africa – Tiffindell in the Drakensburg Mountains – did not reopen after the pandemic. The venue has been listed as being up for sale since 2024.
Pilz says a key factor in the demise of the venue is the high cost of energy, particularly during the years of ‘load shedding’, when recurrent blackouts forced businesses to rely on expensive diesel generators.
A ski resort is, in fact, an energy-intensive business. Ski lifts and snowmaking systems require large amounts of power. Resorts typically manufacture artificial snow when natural snowfall is less than optimum. This involves pumping water through high-pressure nozzles; as the water droplets hit the sub-zero air, they freeze into crystals that land as snow.
While Tiffindell is closed, only one ski facility continues to operate in southern Africa – the Afriski Mountain Resort in Lesotho.
A further complication is climate change, which poses a growing threat to winter sports around the world. The World Economic Forum warned in January that just 10 countries will be capable of hosting the Winter Olympics by the 2040s.
Climate pressures are particularly acute in areas where suitability for skiing is already marginal, which includes the areas in both the north and south of the African continent. Venues in these regions will have to rely more heavily on the expensive process of making artificial snow to remain viable.
Pilz notes that snowfall is not declining at a uniform rate, but is becoming less predictable. Climate is one of the “uncertainties” that would complicate an investment in reopening Tiffindell, he says, pointing out that resorts need to invest in long-term weather monitoring.
Look to the diaspora
Still, there are some reasons to be optimistic that winter sports can gain traction in pockets of Africa.
After all, the 2026 games saw the first ever Winter Olympic gold medallist from a tropical country. Brazil’s Lucas Pinheiro Braathen (who admittedly was born in Norway and represented the Scandinavian country at the 2022 Winter Olympics) triumphed in the giant slalom ski event.
If Brazil can produce a champion skier – or find one in the diaspora – then there is surely hope for Africa as well.