There can be no denying the globalization of the Olympic Games over the last quadrennial. In 2022, six African athletes competed in the Winter Olympics in Beijing, representing five nations. Four years later, the number has more than doubled as 14 athletes from African countries are currently competing at the Milan Cortina Games.

South Africa has the largest contingent with five athletes earning their way to northern Italy — the most the country has sent in its history. South Africa was the first African nation to debut at the Winter Olympics in 1960. The nation has been a trailblazer in the development of sport in Africa; it became the first nation to bring the World Cup to the continent as host in 2010.

Morocco was the second African country to participate in the Winter Olympics, sending a team of five Alpine skiers to the 1968 Games in Grenoble, France. It took until 1984 for Senegal to become the third African nation to send an athlete to the Winter Games.

South Africa, Madagascar, Kenya, Nigeria, Eritrea, Benin, Guinea-Bissau and Morocco will be the African nations represented at Milan Cortina. Ten African athletes are competing in Alpine skiing, three in cross-country skiing, one in freestyle skiing and one in skeleton. The countries of Benin and Guinea-Bissau are appearing in the Winter Olympics for the first time.

Given the common climates across the continent, it is not surprising that Africans have been short on representation at the Winter Olympics. A total of 15 African countries have ever sent athletes to the Winter Olympics — 15 out of a total of 54 countries on the continent. Africa is generally warm year-round, with average temperatures around 70 degrees. By comparison, North America averages around 54 degrees and Europe around 51 degrees.

African nations have historically found success in Summer Olympic sports, however. African athletes won quadruple the number of medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics than the total number of athletes they had competing at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. East African nations in particular have a dominant history in track and field, particularly in the long- and middle-distance running events.

Thanks in large part to a lack of resources and facilities, most of this year's Olympians developed their winter skills off-continent. Many African Winter Olympic athletes prepare in Europe or North Africa, where training conditions and resources are more readily available. These athletes are not only representing their nation but an entire continent, laying the groundwork for future generations.

No African athlete has yet won a medal at the Winter Olympics, but progress continues. These 14 trailblazers are pushing for increased opportunity and representation for African athletes moving forward.