MANILA, Philippines – Christian Tio raced to clinch a silver in men’s kiteboarding as the Philippines captured its first medal in the 2018 Youth Olympic Games on Sunday, October 14, at Club Nautica San Isidro in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The Filipino kiteboarding ace shared his spot on the podium with Slovenia’s Toni Vodisek as they both finished behind contest leader Dominican Republic’s Deury Corniel

Before heading into the final race, the 16-year-old was trailing at 4th place behind Vodisek, USA’s Cameron Maramenides and consistent top placer Corniel. 

The Boracay native almost missed the podium due to unfavorable weather conditions that would lead to the cancellation of the final race. It meant that Tio would have settled for 4th place in the overall fleet. 

“My mindset was just to go for it and enjoy,” said Tio. “Thank you for everyone who supported me, giving all the love.”

Tio prepared for over two months—four weeks in Dominican Republic and four weeks in Buenos Aires—to get his body and mind in great condition.

“I didn’t suffer from jetlag. I was fully rested after arriving here early,” said Tio, whose next objective is to go home to the Philippines.

The Fil-Norwegian was born to pro kiteboarders Chris Mohn and Liezl Tio, who exposed him to the sport in the pristine waters of Boracay.

Archer Nicole Marie Tagle’s partnership with Hendrik Oun of Estonia has allowed them to advance to the quarterfinals of the mixed international event where they got beaten by New Zealand’s Rebecca Jones and Chihchun Tang of Chinese Taipei, 5-1, at the Parque Sarmiento archery range.

“Medyo mahangin po kanina at naapektuhan nito ang performance ko,” said Tagle, a Southeast Asian Games silver medalist last year in Kuala Lumpur.

The 17-year-old from Dumaguete City has another chance to medal when Tagle meets Great Brittain’s Alyssia Tromans-Ansell in the round of 16 women’s individual recurve on Tuesday, October 16.

Yuka Saso and Carl Janno Corpus scored a five-over 75 for 18th place in the mixed team event as the tandem try to chase leaders Atthaya Thitikul and Vanchai Luangnitikul of Thailand on Monday’s final round. – Rappler.com