Curtain falls on Filipino bets in Winter Games
THE Olympic Winter Games campaign of the Philippines finished at the weekend with the country bowing out sans a medal.
Figure skater Michael Martinez and Alpine skier Asa Miller competed in their respective events on Friday and yesterday but both fell short in their quest for gold.
Mr. Martinez, now a two-time Olympian, did not go past the preliminary round of the men’s single skating event held at the Gangneung Ice Arena, finishing at 28th place out of 30 competitors in the qualifying short program, four rungs outside of the top 24 who went on to the next round.
Competing in just two weeks’ notice after getting a late call-up for the PyeongChang Games, Mr. Martinez still delivered a solid performance, which merited 55.56 points.
It was, however, not enough to push him to the next round of men’s single skating, which was eventually won Japan’s Yuzuru Hanyu.
Finishing with silver was Shoma Uno of Japan with Spain’s Javier Fernandez bringing home bronze.
“It was still a good performance. I was able to do everything, you know, not the best, not the same as before,” Mr. Martinez was quoted as saying after the competition even as he underscored that a longer preparation would have made a difference for him.
Mr. Martinez, 21, got into the PyeongChang Games by way of a late call-up following the pullout of Sweden’s Alexander Majorov for the quadrennial games. His name was inserted in on the strength of finishing eighth in the final Olympic qualifier in September last year at the Nebelhorn Trophy Competition. The finish was just a spot away from advancing as the top seven in the tournament earned Olympic berths.
It remains to be seen if PyeongChang is the last Olympics for Mr. Martinez, who was reported to have contemplated retiring after missing the cut for the Games last year.
Mr. Martinez made history in 2014 in Sochi, Russia, by becoming the first skater from Southeast Asia to compete in the Winter Games.
ALPINE SKIING
In Alpine skiing, 17-year-old Miller completed his two runs without crashing to make it a good debut in the Winter Games.
Portland, Oregon, resident Miller, who traces his Filipino roots to Manila, finished his first and second run in the giant slalom event with a combined time of 2:49.95.
The finish placed him at 70th overall from a field of 110 competitors.
Filipino-American Miller struggled early in his first run, held at the Yongpyong Alpine Centre, to finish with a time of 1:27.52.
He improved on it in his second run, clocking in with a time 1:22.43.
Marcel Hirscher of Austria took the gold in the giant slalom with Henrik Kristoffersen of Norway coming in at second and Alexis Pinturault of France at third.
Competed in last year’s Junior World Championships in Sweden teen Miller used the Olympic Games to further carve his niche as an Alpine skier. —