Programs aim to diversify winter sports, but gaps persist at Winter Olympics

Whether it’s on indoors halfpipes in New Jersey or the Rocky Mountains slopes of Colorado and Wyoming, there seems to be plenty of programs aimed at developing a diverse new generation of skiers, skaters and snowboarders. Yet that work is not often reflected with the athletes seen at the Winter Olympics.

A year before the last Winter Games in Beijing, former Canadian figure skater Elladj Baldé started the Skate Global Foundation, a group he says was inspired by his own experiences dealing with adversity as a skater of color.

As athletes prepare to gather next month for global competition at the Milan Cortina Games, organizations like the foundation and the National Brotherhood of Snowsports say they are creating accessibility to the slopes for underserved communities with a charge to develop from recreational-level participation to an Olympic path.

Wealth and access to ski resorts make a significant difference in one’s ability to progress. An athlete's chance of making an Olympic team increases significantly with intensive training at elite boarding schools or academies that can costs tens of thousands of dollars.

“If there were more organizations like this doing this type of work, I think we would have a lot more funding available for skaters of color to be able to access support and the technical background that they need in order to continue to evolve in the sport,” Baldé said.

The majority of Team USA athletes are white even though the roster is more diverse than some at the Winter Games. The U.S. Alpine skiing team in Milano-Cortina is predominantly white. The U.S. figure skaters competing this year are also include Asian American athletes, but none who are Black or Hispanic. Laila Edwards is a rising star of the powerhouse U.S. women’s hockey team and will be the first Black woman to wear the American sweater on the Olympic stage.

Still, there will be many athletes of color competing next month, the majority from African and Caribbean nations.

Financial grants helping diverse

break into winter sports

Baldé, 35, grew up being told he couldn't skate to hip-hop music, wear his hair out because it was nappy or that he looked like a monkey. Hearing things like that, Baldé said, he would have benefited from more support or ice skaters to look at who may have experienced similar things and could offer ways to overcome the noise.

His foundation is focused on creating more diversity in figure skating, offering $3,000 grants to skaters of color in Canada who are close or on a path to competing at the Olympics.

Baldé said the biggest struggle for him was the lack of representation, but receiving similar grants when he was younger helped him to break into competitions at a higher level.

“To be able to have skaters competing internationally and competing at the Olympics that are Black, Indigenous or skaters of color can really inspire generations of athletes to come into a sport where they might feel like don’t belong without that representation,” he said.

The Canadian Ski Council, which also represents the nation's snowboarding industry, has created a “go skiing, go snowboarding” initiative designed to help families feel at home on the slopes.

“We have been characterized, somewhat rightfully, as a largely male, largely Caucasian activity,” said Paul Pinchbeck, president of the organization. “But nothing could be further from the truth. I’m really happy to say that in my lifetime we are going to dispel that and we’re going to see a lot more diversity of interest in our slopes.”

Recreational affinity groups stepping up to DEI mission

With about 7,000 members across 62 National Brotherhood of Snowsports clubs in the United States, the group is working to promote and help athletes of color excel, Henri Rivers, the organization's president, told the Associated Press.

Whether it be Alpine skiing, snowboarding or Nordic skiing, NBS's mission is to “identify, develop and support athletes of color that are going to win international and Olympic competitions and represent the United States,” Rivers said.

Cost is one of the largest obstacles for those looking to get into winter sports. A single day of skiing can well over $100, not including travel and equipment rental; owning your own gear costs even more. Rivers said NBS provides scholarships athletes can use to cover their coaching, tuition, competition, travel and lodging fees.

“We pretty much cover almost everything you can imagine that can help assist them get into the competitions they need to be represented in,” Rivers said.

Lack of diverse representation still seen as barrier for athletes of color

With Benin, Guinea-Bissau and the United Arab Emirates making their Winter Olympic debut, the Games are also expected to be more diverse and showcase athletes of color.

Rivers said for more representation in any sports, kids need to be able to see themselves in the athletes and coaches.

“I think what you are going to get to witness on a global scale is that athletes of color can compete,” Rivers said. “They can compete in any sport as long as they’re given that type of training and allow to work at it.”

U.S. speedskater Erin Jackson, whose championship in the 500 meters in 2022 made her the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics, is aware of the impact representation can have and that for many young girls she will be a reason they compete.

“It helps to see someone like you achieving something, and we haven’t typically had that in winter sports and speedskating specifically," she said. "So I really take on the responsibility with pride of being a face that others can look to and maybe get out and try the sports."

Jackson, who is from Florida, has made increasing diversity in her sport a priority; when she retires, she wants to start an organization to help provide funding for that. She already has worked with Edge Outdoors, a nonprofit based in Washington state that tries to bring women of color to winter sports, helping review scholarship applications.

DEI efforts are having impact on winter sports, study shows

The work NBS, Skate Global Foundation and others are doing to increase diversity is having an impact in snow sports, according to research done by Snowsports Industries America.

Its study, which looked at participation across various snow sports during the 2024-25 season, found that participation amongst all demographics has increased. Participation from Hispanics increased by 4.1% and from Asian Pacific Islanders by 6.1%.

“It is great that the numbers are rising, but I wish they were rising faster,” SIA President Nick Sargent said.

According to the study, the increase in participation from the Hispanic community has helped to mitigate the decline in participation from white communities.

During the 2024-25 season, the number of white skiers declined from 9 million in 2023 to 8.7 million, yet the number of Hispanic skiers remained unchanged at 1.8 million. In snowboarding, white participants declined from 5.8 million to 5.3 million while Hispanic participation has increased from 1.8 million to two million.

“If you are thinking about skiing and snowboarding, it’s a primarily white competitive landscape but they are plenty of people of color that are involved in the space and contributing,” Sargent said.

Olympics Committee offers financial aid to neediest athletes

The task is getting those people of color into an Olympic track if the skills and desire are there.

The International Olympic Committee, through its Olympic Solidarity program, offers scholarships to athletes with the greatest need. The monthly grants help cover costs for training, equipment, travel and participation in qualification events.

At the Winter Olympics in Beijing, 429 scholarships were awarded to athletes. Of those, 236 athletes qualified for the Games and 10 won medals.

For this year’s Games, 447 athletes have received scholarships including, figure skater Donovan Carrillo of Mexico, skeleton athlete Nicole Silveira of Brazil and Ana Alonso Rodriguez, who represents Spain in ski mountaineering.

Carrillo told the IOC that the grants from the IOC helped him to “compete more, attend summer camps and learn from the best coaches,” which ultimately helped him qualify for the Beijing Games after years of limited resources.

“The IOC’s policy is that every athlete regardless of race or anything should be able to access sports free from any barriers,” IOC solidarity program director James Macleod said. “Every athlete should have access to be able to have the possibility to be able to access winter sports.”

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