Winston Tang
Alpine skier (born 2006)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Winston Tang (Chinese: 唐寧希; born 7 July 2006) is an American, Taiwanese, and Bissau-Guinean alpine skier. He was the first person to represent Guinea-Bissau at the Winter Olympics, in the men's slalom event at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| National team | Guinea-Bissau |
| Born | 7 July 2006 Oregon, United States |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Alpine skiing |
Early life and education
Winston Tang was born on 7 July 2006 in Oregon, United States,[1] to Thomas Tang and Penny Tang; his older sisters are Emma Tang and Calcy Tang.[2] Both Thomas and Calcy have represented Chinese Taipei in alpine skiing, Thomas at the 1988 and 1992 Winter Olympics[3] and Calcy at the FIS Alpine World Ski Championships 2021.[4] Growing up in Park City, Utah,[5][6] Winston learned how to ski at the age of two and began competing at the age of eight. He studied at the Winter Sports School in Park City, Utah.[5]
Career
Tang's father, a businessman, began to look for investment opportunities in 2022 in Guinea-Bissau's cashew industry.[5] Through this, he met several government and non-government authorities, and participation in the Winter Olympics was mentioned during one of the dialogues. An interlocutor noticed this and recommended the creation of the Winter Sports Federation of Guinea-Bissau in order for the nation to qualify for the Winter Olympics.[7][5] Around this time, Winston Tang started to compete for Chinese Taipei in international competition.[8] The federation was founded in February 2024 and was made an associate member of the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) in June 2024.[7]
Tang changed his sporting nationality to American and began to compete under the auspices of U.S. Ski & Snowboard.[8] The Winter Sports Federation of Guinea-Bissau had no registered athletes. In 2025 however, the Bissau-Guinean government's ministers voted to grant Tang Bissau-Guinean nationality through his father's connection to the nation[a] to allow him to represent the nation at the 2026 Winter Olympics, and Tang changed his sporting nationality to Bissau-Guinean in June 2025 upon approval by the FIS.[5][10] His first competition representing the nation was at an FIS Entry League men's slalom race held at Ski Dubai.[11][12]
He was awarded an Olympic Scholarship by the International Olympic Committee to assist with his preparations for the Winter Games.[1] Through the basic quota, Guinea-Bissau was eligible to send one male alpine skier to the Games,[13] and Winston was selected. He trained in Bosnia and Herzegovina.[5] During the 2026 Winter Olympics opening ceremony and closing ceremony, Tang was the flag bearer for the nation.[14][15][16] He participated in the men's slalom event, but did not finish.[1]
