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)

ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — Sixteen years after finishing the biathlon 15-kilometer mass start race at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics, Martin Fourcade was awarded his gold medal for the race on Sunday, while Slovak biathlete Pavol Hurajt received his silver and the bronze was given to Christoph Sumann of Austria during a medal reallocation ceremony at the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena at the Milan Cortina Winter Games.

And 12 years after competing in the 2014 Sochi Games, the German relay team of Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp received their gold medals. The Austria team of Sumann, Daniel Mesotitsch, Simon Eder and Dominik Landertinger were awarded silver.

The bronze went to the Norwegian relay team of Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe, Ole Einar Bjorndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen.

Athletes from the 2010 Vancouver Games and the 2014 Sochi Olympics received new medals after all Russian biathlete Evgeny Ustyugov's competitive results were disqualified from 2010 to 2014, “due to anti-doping rule violations based on abnormalities in his Athlete Biological Passport and evidence from the Moscow Laboratory Information Management System,” the International Biathlon Union said in a news release.

The ceremony took place between the men’s and women’s pursuit races in front of a crowd of about 20,000 fans.

Fourcade said he was thrilled to be back in Anterselva to receive a long-overdue medal.

“It was my first podium at the time, my first medal, and it already felt like gold," he said. “Today, being able to celebrate it, both in an Olympic atmosphere and in one of the most iconic biathlon venues is also a special thing, considering the message this medal sends for the fight for clean sport, for justice being done, even if sometimes it takes too long.”

Germany's Peiffer, after receiving his gold, said it was a great feeling to be back with the team.

“We had great times together, and now finally, we are back on the podium,” he said. “It’s kind of weird because it’s a long time since we have been on a podium together. We are very grateful that we got the gold medal now, and I think we deserved it, because we were the best clean team on that day.”

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

Germany's Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp, gold medalists for the men's 4x7.5-kilometer biathlon relay race from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics celebrate during a reallocation medals ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Germany's Erik Lesser, Daniel Boehm, Arnd Peiffer and Simon Schempp, back, pose with the gold medal for the men's 4x7.5-kilometer biathlon relay race from the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics with Austria's Christoph Sumann, Daniel Mesotitsch, Simon Eder and Dominik Landertinger, silver medalists, and Norway's Tarjei Boe, Johannes Thingnes Boe, Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen, bronze medalists, front right, during a reallocation medals ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Martin Fourcade, of France, center, poses with the gold medal for the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics with silver medalist Pavol Hurajt, of Slovakia, left, and bronze medalist Christoph Sumann, of Austria, during a reallocation medals ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Martin Fourcade, of France, center, poses with the gold medal for the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics with silver medalist Pavol Hurajt, of Slovakia, left, and bronze medalist Christoph Sumann, of Austria, during a reallocation medals ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)

Martin Fourcade, of France, center, poses with the gold medal for the men's 15-kilometer mass start biathlon race from the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympics with Pavol Hurajt, of Slovakia, left, and Christoph Sumann, of Austria, during a reallocation medals ceremony at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Anterselva, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Mosa'ab Elshamy)