Singapore ski racer Faiz Basha becomes 2nd athlete to represent tropical nation at a Winter Games

BORMIO, Italy (AP) — The reaction is usually the same when Faiz Basha tells anyone that he's an Olympian.

What sport? Ski racing. An understanding nod.

What country? Singapore. Raised eyebrows.

Basha's just the second athlete from the tropical country — temperature today: 88 degrees Fahrenheit (31 Celsius) — to compete at a Winter Games. Born in Singapore, Basha was introduced to ski racing during his time living in Switzerland, when his parents moved there while his dad served as a diplomat.

His route here, to the Milan Cortina Games, has been in some ways quite conventional to every other ski racer (he grew up going to the mountains). In other ways, not so much (he honed his technique inline skating while serving in the military).

“Being a Singaporean in a sport where you don’t really see anyone else from tropical countries, it brings with me a lot of pride to carry the flag at such big events," said Basha, who will compete in the slalom Monday to close out the men's Alpine program in Bormio. “I’ve been quite lucky to have the opportunity.”

He’s one of several athletes from nontraditional ski nations getting a chance to represent their country. Like Eritrea's Shannon Abeda, who finished 31.30 seconds behind giant slalom champion Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil on Saturday.

Time didn’t really matter. Pride did.

“My friend and I were in the stands looking over, and he asked me a question, and I just started bawling,” Abeda said. “He was asking me how much it took to get here. It means a lot.”

Same for Nathan Tchibozo, who represents Benin in West Africa.

“This shows that everything is possible,” said Tchibozo, who finished the GS in 48th place. “You have to believe in your dreams.”

When Basha's family moved to Geneva, his mom, who worked at a bank in Geneva, decided she wanted to learn how to ski. He went along, too.

Mountains. Switzerland. He was hooked early — and highly competitive.

“I didn’t like losing" as a kid, said Basha, whose full name is Faiz Basha Munwar Basha. “Whenever I had a bad race, I would be crying. I was really young. But I got in more and more training and just kept improving.”

To the point where he competed at world championships in Austria last winter and now in Bormio. He joins short track speedskater Cheyenne Goh as athletes representing Singapore who've competed at a Winter Games. Goh was 28th in the women's 1,500 at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games.

The official result of his first Olympic run in Bormio, the giant slalom, goes down as a “DNF" — did not finish — after a crash. It happened to be a crash, years ago as a teenager, that nearly ended his ski racing. He was competing in a super-G when he wiped out and ripped a hole in his intestine.

As much as the physical pain were the emotional scars. He suddenly knew fear.

“My first training after the crash, which was like many months later, it was quite difficult because I did the first run and I crashed. I did the second run and I crashed again. I did a third run and I crashed,” recalled Basha, who turns 24 on Feb. 28. “I went to my mom and I dropped my skis. I said, ‘I’m done. I don’t want to do this anymore.'”

So he took up redrawing the mass transit map for Singapore. You know, as a side project.

He found the underground railway network — Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) system — hard to read. The transport system covers 150 miles (240 kilometers) of the island with more than 160 stations.

While taking a break from studying, he mapped out a new grid. His version of the map went viral. He was even offered an internship by the transportation department to work on some other cartography projects.

“I did this during my period where I wasn’t being very sportive,” explained Basha, who’s a mechanical engineering student at University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. “I was still quite scared of taking speed (on the race course). Shortly after, I started to get back into racing and skiing with intention.”

After graduating from the International School of Geneva, he would return to Singapore and fulfill two years of military service.

With no mountains around, he had to improvise. When he had time, Basha would go to a local promenade, set up cones and slalom through them on inline skates.

It improved his footwork, balance and form.

“If you think about how inline skates work, you have the wheels in a line and you can’t drift,” said Basha. “It helped me develop a very skiing-on-rails sort of mindset. When I came back to the skis after my national service, I actually improved."

“I know I’m still a long way from the top of the sport. For me, success is being able to break new ground for Singapore," Basha added. "I’m quite content with what I’ve done so far.”

AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics

Flag bearer Faiz Basha Munwar Basha of Singapore leads the team, during the Olympic opening ceremony, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Livigno, Italy, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (Cameron Spencer, Pool Photo via AP)

Singapore's Faiz Basha falls during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Singapore's Faiz Basha skis down after crashing during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Singapore's Faiz Basha speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Singapore's Faiz Basha speeds down the course, during an alpine ski, men's giant slalom race, at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Bormio, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/John Locher)

Cameron Boozer was at the center of everything for Duke this season.

The 6-foot-9, 250-pound forward proved tough enough to score through physical play. Rangy enough to space the floor and shoot from outside. Deft enough as a passer to find teammates, whether against constant double teams coming for him as the top name on every scouting report or while running the entire offense from up top.

“You just want to affect winning in whatever way you can,” Boozer said.

The high-end NBA prospect did that all season for a team that won 35 games, reached No. 1 in the AP Top 25 poll, claimed the top overall seed for March Madness and reached the NCAA Tournament's Elite Eight. Now he's The Associated Press men’s college basketball national player of the year, only the fifth freshman to earn the honor and the second in a row for a Duke program that keeps adding to the longest list of winners in the country.

“It just goes to show more about what our team has done, just because I think that really helps awards like this, having great team success,” Boozer told the AP. “It’s really just not me.”

Boozer, named unanimous first-team AP all-American last month, received 59 of 61 votes from AP Top 25 voters in results released Friday. BYU freshman AJ Dybantsa, another potential top NBA pick, received the other two votes after averaging a national-best 25.5 points per game.

Boozer, son of Duke and longtime NBA player Carlos Boozer, ranked averaged 22.5 points (ninth in Division I) and 10.2 rebounds (12th) while finishing tied for the national lead with 22 double-doubles. He also averaged 4.1 assists while posting efficient shooting numbers at 55.6% overall and 39.1% from 3-point range.

He joins fellow Blue Devils star Cooper Flagg last year, another Duke player in Zion Williamson (2019), Kentucky’s Anthony Davis (2012) and Texas star Kevin Durant (2007) as freshmen to win the AP award. Each went No. 1 or No. 2 in the NBA draft that year.

“I’m very grateful just that I’m even in those (NBA) conversations,” Boozer said. “I think a lot of people dream of being where I am. Sometimes you’ve got to take a step back and just remember that once upon a time, you were a kid dreaming to be here. So I think it’s very special.”

His coaches think the same of him.

“We’ve been fortunate enough the last two years to have two of the best freshmen to ever play in college basketball back to back,” Duke associate head coach and former Blue Devils player Chris Carrawell said. “And Cam is right up there.

Boozer is Duke's ninth AP winner, each coming from a different player. UCLA is the next closest with five winners, though that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1967 and 1969) and Bill Walton (1972 and 1973) as two-time selections.

UCLA, Ohio State and Duke rival North Carolina are the only other programs with as many as three different players to win the award.

Boozer arrived at Duke alongside twin brother Cayden after the two led Miami's Columbus High to four straight state championships. By late February, the Blue Devils were starting a four-week reign atop the AP Top 25 that would carry to March Madness. Boozer — who said he looks at winning as a skill — routinely posted top performances in Duke's biggest games, including during a rugged nonconference slate.

He matched a season high with 35 points in a November win against Arkansas. He followed with 29 points against defending national champion Florida. He also had big performances at Michigan State (18 points, 15 rebounds) and flirted with a triple-double (18 points, 10 rebounds, seven assists) in a February win against Michigan.

Along the way, he pushed through bumps and shoves. He closed Sunday's season-ending loss to UConn with 27 points and his right eye swollen from a first-half blow.

“There’s no agenda other than figuring out a way to win,” Wolverines coach Dusty May said. “I’ve seen him play a number of times this year where there’s six guys in the paint, and it’s not as if he’s jumping 40, 50 inches off the floor. His desire to rebound the ball, to set physical screens, to play to his advantages, is as impressive as any freshman that I can recall.”

The other challenge was managing the scrutiny that comes from expectations for greatness. A missed shot. A turnover. The 3-for-17 shooting while battling rising frustration and Virginia shot-blocker Ugonna Onyenso in the ACC title game.

“He does a great job of flushing it and not letting it dwell on him too much,” Cayden said. “That’s something he’s always been able to do since we were younger. Obviously I talk to him when he needs me to. And I sometimes just understood that, hey, he’s going through something, give him some space for a little bit and he’ll figure it out.”

Cameron said getting away for time alone and putting down the phone helps. He points to prayer and even a recent effort to read more.

The rest of the time, though, he'll throw himself into becoming a better player. There's comfort in that routine, the results yet to fail him.

“I think just being prepared alleviates pressure," Cameron said. "Being ready for a game, watching film, working out, knowing you put your time in, being confident in yourself — I think all that takes away a lot of the pressure that people talk about. At the end of the day, pressure really is what you put on yourself.”

AP March Madness bracket: https://apnews.com/hub/ncaa-mens-bracket and coverage: https://apnews.com/hub/march-madness

Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) reacts after scoring during the second half in the second round of the NCAA college basketball tournament against TCU, Saturday, March 21, 2026, in Greenville, S.C. (AP Photo/Brynn Anderson)

Duke guard Cayden Boozer, left, and Duke forward Cameron Boozer, right, share a laugh during a press conference ahead of a game against UConn in the Elite Eight of the NCAA college basketball tournament Saturday, March 28, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) shoots over St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins (23) during the second half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

Duke forward Cameron Boozer (12) shoots over St. John's forward Bryce Hopkins (23) during the first half in the Sweet 16 of the NCAA college basketball tournament, Friday, March 27, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)