Ashley Tshanda Ongong'a (born 2007) is a Kenyan-Italian
cross-country skier. In 2023, she made history after becoming the first African woman to compete in cross-country skiing at the Winter Youth Olympics.
Biography
Ongong'a was born in 2007 in
Subiaco, Italy
Subiaco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Latium, from Tivoli alongside the River Aniene. It is a tourist and religious resort because of its sacred grotto ( Sacro Speco), in the ...
. Her father is Kenyan and her mother is Congolese. Ongong'a began skiing when she was 4 years old, skiing with a local ski group in
Monte Livata.
At age 6, she began to dream about representing Kenya in the Olympics.
Her father, who moved from Kenya to Italy at age 21, encouraged her passion in the sport.
At age 14, Ongong'a moved to
Tarvisio
Tarvisio ( German and ; ) is a (municipality) in the Regional Decentralization Entity of Udine, in the autonomous Friuli-Venezia Giulia region of Italy.
Geography
The town is in the Canal Valley (''Val Canale'') between the Carnic Alps and Ka ...
from her home near Rome to train at Bachmann Sport College, to continue her training.
At age 16 in 2023, she made history as the first Kenyan cross-country skiier to qualify for the
2024 Winter Youth Olympics
The 2024 Winter Youth Olympics (), officially known as the IV Winter Youth Olympic Games and commonly known as Gangwon 2024 (), were a Winter sports, winter multi-sport event, cultural festival, and fourth edition of the Winter Youth Olympics he ...
. It was her first year accumulating FIS points. Ongong'a holds both Kenyan and Italian citizenship,
and chose to ski for Kenya in the Youth Olympics, despite only visiting the country once.
Prior to the Youth Olympics, Ongonga and Kenyan alpine skier Issa Laborde travelled to South Korea to take part in a training camp before the event. At the Youth Winter Olympics in Gangwon, Ongong'a finished 62nd in the Sprint Freestyle and 63rd in the 7.5 km Classic event.
In 2025, Ongong'a took part in the World Ski Championships, where she finished nine minutes behind the winner, earning 43rd place in the qualifying.
Ongong'a would finish the 10 km classic event in 97th place.
At the U23 World Championships in
Schilpario
Schilpario (, or ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Bergamo in the Italy, Italian region of Lombardy, located about northeast of Milan and about northeast of Bergamo.
Schilpario borders the following municipalities: Azzone, B ...
, Ongong'a finished 64th in the sprint classic and 71st in the 10 km freestyle.
See also
*
Kenya at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics
*
Sabrina Simader, first Kenyan woman to compete at the Winter Olympics
*
Philip Boit, first Kenyan to compete at the Olympics
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ongong'a, Ashley Tshanda
Living people
2007 births
People from Subiaco, Lazio
21st-century Kenyan sportswomen
Kenyan skiers
Italian skiers
Kenyan people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent
Italian people of Kenyan descent
Italian people of Democratic Republic of the Congo descent
Cross-country skiers at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics