Pinoy makes history on ice

MANILA, Philippines - Whatever the outcome of his performance in the figure skating event, Michael Christian Martinez has already achieved a feat no other Filipino has – compete in the Winter Olympics.

Martinez was set to compete against the best in the world late last night, chasing a top 24 finish to qualify for the men’s figure skating finals in Sochi, Russia.

Martinez is the first-ever homegrown athlete to qualify for the Winter Olympics. He is also the first skater from Southeast Asia to make it to the 90-year Winter Games history.

To date, the 17-year-old skater’s personal best score for the short program is 67.01, accomplished at the 2013 World Junior Championships in Milan, Italy.

Skating fifth in the evening at the Iceberg Skating Palace, Martinez will perform to Nino Rota’s dramatic film score for “Romeo and Juliet.”

While in Moscow training for Sochi, Martinez told The STAR: “I feel excited and nervous because I will be competing against skaters who are much older than me and more experienced than me... but it is an honor to know that I am already on the same competing level as such great skaters.”

To qualify for the final round was Martinez’s personal goal entering into the preliminary Olympic event.

If he makes the Top 24, Martinez will be seeing action again at 11 tonight for the Free Skate round.

The Olympic Figure Skating competition consists of two phases for the singles and pairs events: the short program which entails seven compulsory elements of spins, jumps and steps, and the final Free Skate program.

Meanwhile, Filipinos are actively showing their support for Martinez. His Facebook page shows a wave of generosity as kababayans pledged financial contributions to help with the skater’s expenses.

School children in Bicol put up the “Piso Para Kay Michael” fund-raising project.

On the Sochi fan page, Martinez jumped to first place in just a few days as his number of votes quickly rose, beating even host country skating superstars Evgeny Plushenko and the recently named “Darling of the Ice,” 15-year-old Yulia Lipnitskaja.

Growing up in hospital

When he was younger, Martinez frequently visited the hospital because he had asthma.

All along, he thought the illness would prevent him from pursuing his goal of becoming a world-class ice skater.

But with proper medication, Martinez got better. He went on with his training, and before he knew it he was on top of his game.

““I literally grew up in the hospital as I was very sickly. I couldn’t take up any sport. I tried outdoor sports when I was younger, but I easily got asthma attacks so I stopped,” he told Yahoo! Philippines in a recent interview.

“I had asthma maintenance medicine when I started skating, since the cold in the rink made me sick too. But year after year my health kept improving, so my mother fully supported me to continue skating. She said it’s better to spend the money on skating than in the hospital,” he said.

Martinez is not the only Filipino in Sochi, but is the first-ever ice-skating talent born and raised in the Philippines ever to make it to the Winter Games.

The venue is thousands of miles away from the SM ice rinks where Martinez learned how to skate. It’s not that close either to Colorado Springs or Lake Forest in California, where he underwent serious training.

Martinez is now in the company of the world’s best figure skaters, and regardless of what happens in Sochi, he becomes part of Philippine history.

The 5-foot-7 skater is in the land of the giants.

Martinez was scheduled to hit the ice fifth among 30 entries, including double Olympic gold medalist Yevgeny Plushenko of Russia, who skates seventh; three-time world champion Patrick Chan of Canada, who skates 21st; and Yuzuru Hanyu, the young Japanese superstar, who skates 19th.

Plushenko is already 31, and is hoping to become the greatest figure skater ever while Chan is 23 and Hanyu, 19.

Martinez, at 17, is one of the youngest in the field. But to the Filipino representative, everything is a learning process. This early, he said he’s looking forward to the next Winter Games.

“It feels great that I’m here representing the Philippines at the Olympics,” Martinez also told NBCOlympics.com in a recent interview.

He’s just happy to be there and represent the Philippines – regardless of what happens. – With Chiara Mapa