The 2018 winter Olympics in PyeongChang South Korea will see the highest number of African countries participating in the history of the games.
Morocco, Ghana, Madagascar, South Africa,Eritrea, Nigeria, Kenya, and Togo all have athletes taking part this year.
In total there are 13 athletes from African countries scheduled to compete—a record high since 1994 when tougher qualifying standards were imposed.
One of these athletes is Sabrina Wanjiku Simader -the first Kenyan female to compete at the Winter Games
An obvious obstacle for the average African hoping to participate in the Winter Olympics is the absence of suitable weather conditions to train in. As a result, the majority of African athletes that have competed at the Winter Olympics were either born or currently live and train outside the continent.
Most have also had the additional task of setting up inaugural ski federations within their individual countries. Doing so helps legitimise that particular country’s entry into the Olympics and enables athletes to get the financial and material support required to compete in the Olympics.
In 1984, a Senegalese skier, Lamine Guèye, the first black African to compete at the Winter Olympics, had to set up the Senegalese Ski Federation, of which he is still the president.
There is a bigger challenge this year for the 13 African athletes in Pyeongchang, South Korea. Who will be the first African to win a Winter Olympics medal?
