Christian Tio proud of donning Philippine colors in Youth Olympic Games

MANILA, Philippines — Fil-Norwegian kiteboarder Christian Tio wants to make the most of his opportunity to shine in the big stage when he represents the Philippines in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

“I’m pretty excited because it’s a really big thing, not everyone has the opportunity (to compete in the YOG),” Boracay-based Tio shared in a media briefing yesterday at the Red Bull headquarters in Taguig.

Tio, who turns 17 today, ruled the Kitesurfing Youth Olympic Qualifiers Asia last Sunday in Pranburi, Thailand to book a trip to the Oct. 6-18 YOG. He made his big move in the last two days of the five-day competition to beat Chinese Hoaran Zhang and Thai bet Sarun Rupchom for the title with a winning score of 26 points.

The reigning Asian junior champ trains his sights on the gold against 11 other continental titlists and qualifiers in Argentina, where kiteboarding will debut via the TwinTip:Racing Slalom discipline.

“It will be tough. There’s a lot of really tough competitors our there so I’ll train really hard to win and get that gold,” said Tio.

The Pinoy ace flew back home last night to Boracay, where he will spend the majority of his preparations for the Youth Olympiad. In April, he is scheduled to go to Norway to participate in a Red Bull event as part of his buildup.

So far, Tio is the only Filipino bet to qualify for the 2018 YOG.

“I don’t really feel any pressure, I’m just happy to be representing my country,” he said.

Living in Boracay, Tio was first exposed to the sport when he was seven years old.

“At first I didn’t like it because it was just a kite but once I got into the water, it started getting more fun, that’s when I liked it,” recalled Tio, who evetually competed at the Kiteboard Tour Asia series as a 10-year-old and later bagged second place at the Junior Kitesurfing World Championships in 2014 and 2015.