MICHAEL MARTINEZ: The New Darling of Philippine Sports

Any news and insights about Michael Martinez’s Olympic journey is like a breath of fresh air, amidst all the nasty talks about the Vhong-Deniece-Cedric saga, and Ruby Tuason’s coming out party as a whistle-blower (complete with that save-my-face attitude). This Filipino figure skater, and our lone representative to Sochi in Russia, slowly slipped into the crevices of our consciousness sans all the fanfare.

What is very remarkable about Martin’s participation in the 2014 Winter Olympics is that he comes from a country which is tropical in climate. He comes from the Philippines if I may reiterate, just in case you have just come out from underneath a rock. I guess at this point we have to thank SM’s patriarch – Mr. Henry Sy, for bringing ice here in our country – in one of his malls I mean, where Michael started training at the age of eight.

Another noteworthy element in his entry into the Olympics is that his family did not have enough funds to finance his Olympic bid. But by some miracle, Michael’s family was able to pull it off (they mortgaged their house). On hindsight, news has it that they wrote a letter to PNOY requesting for assistance. Unfortunately, such letter did not reach the President.

Michael may not have earned any medal, but his qualifying stint to reach the medal round is already a huge win for him, and for his country beset with corruption issues, and still picking up the pieces after the Yolanda/Hainan wreckage.

As a tribute to Michael via this humble blog, here are some quick facts about his Olympic performance.

- youngest skater in Men’s Figure Skating Event at 17 years old

- garnered 64.81 points in the short program which qualified him for the

medal round

- garnered 119.44 points in the free program/medal round

(62.58 in Elements, 57.86 in Components, and a 1 point deduction for a fall)

- garnered a total score of 184.25 points over all

- finished 19^th place out of 24 in the medal round

- first Filipino and Southeast Asian to qualify in the Winter Olympics

Men’s Figure Skating

- ended his routine with a Biellmann Spin, an unusual and difficult maneuver

for male figure skaters (usually done by women)

- his braided sequined black and white outfit was donated a by a designer from

New York who saw his plea for a proper Olympic attire on Facebook

Biellmann Spin

Biellman Spin

Here are other relevant and interesting facts about Michael:

- full name is Michael Christian Martinez

- born on November 4, 1996

- born in Paranaque, but hometown is Muntinlupa

- suffers from asthma

- started skating in 2005 at SM Southmall Ice Rink

- began training in the US (California) in 2010

- current coach is Viktor Kudriavtsev (Russian figure skating coach
and choreographer)

- former coaches were Ilia Kulik (1998 Olympic champion) and
John Nicks (British figure skating coach and pair skater,
World Champion and European Champion both in 1953)

- injuries: skating blade cut in his thigh (2009)
                 tore two ankle ligaments (2011)
                 tore a knee medial ligament (2012)
                 fractured an ankle (2013)
                 treated for inflamed knee (January 2014)

- competed in various competitions in the US and Europe

- won his first international senior title in Crystal Skate of Romania
in 2012 (first for the Philippines)

- won his first Junior Grand Prix medal (bronze) at the JGP Estonia in 2013

- took the gold medal at the 2013-2014 Skate Helena

- placed 7th at the Nebelhorn Trophy in 2013, a last qualifying event
   for the 2014 Winter Olympics

- his flexibility is due to his training in gymnastics

Though he lost to the eventual winners - Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan (Gold), Patrick Chan of Canada (Silver), and Dennis Ten of Kazakhstan (Bronze), Michael making it to Sochi is already an achievement in itself. Not only for him, but for our country as well.

But his successful run in Sochi is just the start, as he bared his plans of competing in the next Winter Olympics to be held in South Korea in 2018. Hopefully this time, our government will support him in this next journey. I appeal to our legislators to give a few cents of their huge pork barrels not just to Michael, but to all other struggling Filipino athletes too.