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Philippine Olympian Michael Martinez will compete in the International Skating Union (ISU) Grand Prix of Figure Skating, which starts on October 24 until December 14. He will be the only Filipino and Southeast Asian to compete in this year’s prestigious Grand Prix Series.
The Grand Prix is a series of senior international figure skating competitions in the 2014 to 2015 season. Medals will be awarded in the disciplines of men’s singles, ladies’ singles, pair skating, and ice dancing. Skaters will earn points based on their placement at each event and the top six in each discipline will qualify to compete at the Grand Prix Final to be held in Barcelona, Spain.
“The youth and the promotion of athletic excellence through our facilities, programs, events and schools are among our primary advocacies. Michael Martinez is a homegrown talent and a role model for today’s youth as he sets his sights even higher. We fully support his dreams to continue to represent the Philippines and to place in the next Winter Olympics,” SM Prime Holdings, Inc. President Hans T. Sy said in a press release.
Martinez is set to compete in the Hilton Honors Skate America in Chicago, Illinois from October 24 to 26, which is the first of six events that make up the 2014 Grand Prix Series. Martinez was one of the select few invited by the organizing committee to compete in the prestigious event.
Other stops include Skate Canada, LEXUS Cup of China, Trophee Eric Bompard in France, Rostelecom Cup in Russia and NHK Trophy in Japan.
Skaters earn points throughout the Grand Prix Series to qualify for the Grand Prix of Figure Skating Final. The 2014 Grand Prix Final will be held on December 11 to 14 in Spain.
Organized by the ISU, the Grand Prix series sets the stage for the 2015 European, Four Continents, and World Championships. The corresponding series for junior-level skaters will be the 2014–15 ISU Junior Grand Prix.
Martinez will be competing against world and Olympic medalists the likes of Tatsuki Machida of Japan, Denis Ten of Kazakhstan, Jeremy Abbott of the USA and Artur Gachinski of Russia.
Martinez, who ranks 27th in the world clinched his first senior international title championship, also a first for the Philippines at the 2012 Crystal Skate held in Brazov, Romania. In 2013 to 2014, Martinez started his season at the 2013 ISU Junior Grand Prix in Latvia where he finished 4th. He later placed third in the Junior Grand Prix in Estonia in October 2013. He also competed at the Nebelhorn Trophy senior level in Germany in September 2013. The Nebelhorn Trophy was the last qualifying event for the 2014 Winter Olympics where Martinez finished 7th overall, thus earning a spot for the Philippines in men’s singles — a first for his country and in Southeast Asia. At the recent Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, Martinez finished 19th.
Martinez took up figure skating when he was eight, inspired by skaters spinning and jumping while shopping with his mother at SM Southmall. He began training in 2010 in the United States and since then his lifelong dream has been to win an Olympic medal. Martinez has garnered over 190 medals and trophies from various international and local competitions. – Rappler.com
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