Martinez sets sights on 2018 Winter Olympics - ABS CBN News

Michael Christian Martinez of the Philippines competes during the figure skating men's free skating program at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics. REUTERS/Issei Kato

MANILA, Philippines – Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez is already setting his sights on the 2018 Winter Olympics in South Korea after gaining a respectable finish at the Games in Sochi, Russia on Friday.

Martinez, the first Southeast Asian to compete in the figure skating event of the Winter Olympics, finished 19th out of 24 skaters at the free skate program, which is the medal round of the event.

The 17-year-old is beaming with pride despite missing the cut for the Olympic medals as he still has the chance to compete for the medals in 2018.

“I feel happy and proud that I made it here into the final round and competing here also in the Olympic games,” he said in an ANC report.

“I'm aiming at the next Olympic Games and trying to get the medal,” he added.

Martinez gained global attention as he set an Olympic record of being the first figure skater to come out of a tropical country.

What impressed his new found fans more is that he was able to qualify for the Games despite limited funding for his overseas training and expenses for international competition.

Martinez first hurdled the preliminaries of the men’s figure skating by gaining a component score of 31.50 and technical score of 33.31 for a total of 64.81 points, which is good enough to place him among the top 24 competitors.

He then gained another 119.44 in the medal round for a total of 184.25 points. This placed him at a respectable ranking of 19th place and was ahead of five contestants.

Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan won the gold, while Patrick Chan of Canda and Denis Ten of Kazakhstan took home the silver and bronze, respectively.

Pinoy pride

Filipinos who closely watched Martinez performance were gushing with pride through the social media because of their new hero.

“Galing mo mike,,, maliban s ikaw ang 1st s history n nkapasok n tga SEA ung mga kalaban mo grabe ng tanda my experienced n cla at ung iba dun natalo mo... Ur the best,” said Rotsen Ignacio.

“Well hindi rin cya nhuli sa iba nyang kalaban npasok prin cya sa top 24 at sa panghuli hw to get the gold.your still young micheal try and try for the competition till you get that gold.ur awesome young man!” said Hellen Gentuya.

Another Filipino said Martinez will have a great future provided that he perseveres for future tournaments.

“Great ending never comes the first time. It requires patience and dedication. Mabuhay,” said Rustan Torre.

Martinez is expected to compete at the 2014 World Junior Figure Skating Championships in Sofia, Bulgaria this March.

Source: Top Stories - Google News