Ashihmin became one of the first swimmers from Kyrgyzstan to compete at the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta since the post-Soviet era. He failed to reach the top 16 final in the 100 m freestyle, finishing in twenty-ninth place with a time of 51.07. He also placed eighteenth as a member of the Kyrgyzstan team in the 4×100 m freestyle relay (3:30.62), seventeenth in the 4×200 m freestyle relay (8:00.00), and twenty-first in the 4×100 m medley relay (3:56.24).
