Kenya’s skiing star Sabrina Wanjiku withdraws from Winter Olympics
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The 27-year-old skier, who made her Olympic debut in PyeongChang 2018, had planned a comeback after retiring last July.
Speaking to Olympics.com, Simader described her withdrawal as a difficult decision.
“Unfortunately, I'm not participating. The last weeks and months were a roller coaster—up and down, forward and backward. I tried to do a second comeback after retiring, but things didn’t work out as planned with my NOC,” she said on Wednesday, 4 February.
She added: “There were some big delays. I even started training a bit, not as usual. I invested some of my own budget hoping to make it to the final Olympic race, but it didn’t work out.”
Simader, a pioneer of winter sports in Africa, now plans to focus on giving back to the sport. “When a door closes, another one opens. I’m looking forward to inspiring the next generation. I’m currently working on a big project—a ‘Ski Camp of Colours’ for future champions.”
This year, 15 African athletes from eight countries will compete at the Winter Olympics. Benin, Guinea-Bissau, Nigeria, and Eritrea will each have one athlete; Madagascar, Morocco, and Kenya will field two athletes apiece; while South Africa will send the continent’s largest delegation of five.
Issa Laborde, who previously represented Kenya at the Gangwon 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games, will compete in the alpine skiing events.
The Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics officially kick off on Friday.
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