Martinez vows best performance yet as PH winter stint formally starts today

Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez vows to showcase his best performance to date when he competes in the men’s short program today in the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The event starts at 10 a.m. local time (9 a.m. Manila time) at the Gangneung Ice Arena with the 21-year-old, competing in his second straight Olympiad, fighting for slots among 29 other competitors.

Only the Top 24 skaters will advance in tomorrow’s singles free skate program.

Martinez flew from Los Angeles last week to get the feel of the competition early and so far, the Parañaque native is confident of his chances. Chief of Mission Tom Carrasco, who was with the six-man Philippine contingent, said Martinez has started doing routine flexibility warmup numbers for 45 minutes before transferring to the skating rink where he was given slots to practice the routine along with other participants. He was grouped with skaters from Belgium, France, Germany and Canada. Every morning, he goes light jogging around the village and goes to the gym to be physically fit for the event proper. “Alaga talaga siya, especially sa diet niya,” said Carrasco.

Accompanied by his Ukrainian coach Slava Zagorodnuyk, Martinez hopes to eclipse his 19th-place finish in his debut appearance at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.

He was given the final slot last Feb. 9 after Sweden decided not to use its allocation for the event. He missed the cut by a hairline in September last year after placing eighth in the Nebelhorn Trophy in Germany, the final qualifying event for the Games.

Only the top 7 skaters earned outright Games tickets.