Three unlikely Winter Olympians to watch at Milano Cortina 2026
The Winter Games aren’t just the preserve of snow-seasoned nations. Meet the tropical-nation contenders raising the stakes in Milano Cortina.
For countries with cold climates, a spot on the Winter Olympics podium is as natural as snowfall. But at Milano Cortina 2026, athletes from nations with temperatures far less conducive to skating, skiing or snowboarding will be going up against the world’s elite.
1.
Singapore’s ski sensation
Faiz Basha
Come February, 23-year-old skier Faiz Basha will proudly bear Singapore’s flag at Milano Cortina’s opening ceremony – the first time that a skier from the tropical city state will compete in the Winter Games. “Singapore is new to sports – we’re oriented towards academia,” says Basha. “But ever since Joseph Schooling beat Michael Phelps at Rio 2016 to win our first Olympic gold medal, the culture has been changing.”
Basha took up skiing after moving to Switzerland at the age of three. During his mandatory military service at the age of 18, he started training on the running track at Singapore’s national stadium to stay ski-fit.
Since then, he has become the top-ranked Southeast Asian athlete in the men’s slalom. “I hope that the next generation of athletes is better than me,” he says. “I hope I can inspire younger athletes or youths in any endeavour and show that anything is possible.”
2.
Haiti’s harbinger of hope
Stevenson Savart
Adopted by a French couple when he was three, Haiti-born Stevenson Savart has been on skis for as long as he can remember. “I pushed to join the local ski club before I’d reached the age requirement,” Savart tells Monocle from his training camp in Pontarlier. In 2021 the skier decided to represent his birthplace and he felt vindicated after Richardson Viano became the first Haitian to compete in a Winter Games at Beijing 2022. “I was at a time in my life when I wasn’t sure of the direction that I wanted to take and he motivated me to keep going and represent my country,” says Savart.
In 2023 he became the first Haitian to participate in the cross-country competition of the World Cup. Three years later, he will be competing in his first Olympics at Milano Cortina. His dream is a place on the podium – but even taking part is an achievement at a tough time for Haiti. “I want to show that we can compete at the highest level.”
3.
Brazil’s bobsleigh veteran
Edson Bindilatti
It takes persistence to compete in multiple Olympics. It takes even more in an event for which the country of your birth seems ill-suited. Yet Cool Runnings-inspired bobsledder Edson Bindilatti is set for his sixth Winter Games in Milano Cortina. He was part of Brazil’s first Olympic bobsleigh campaign, at Salt Lake City in 2002: the team finished 27th in the four-man bob.
The years since have yielded some improvement: in Beijing in 2022, Brazil’s four-man team finished 20th, ahead of sleds from more obviously cold-weather sporting countries including Austria, Canada and Switzerland. (Brazil’s two-man bob, however, was only slightly faster than Jamaica’s.) Bindilatti has come out of retirement in a bid to qualify for Milano Cortina – and to mentor Brazil’s next generation of bobsleigh crews. By mid-January, the 46-year-old should know whether his efforts to make it to the 2026 Games have been successful.
