November 1 ------ Two-time Winter Olympian Michael Martinez said he would gladly make efforts to qualify for a spot at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.
Martinez, the first Southeast Asian to ever participate in the Winter Olympics, will try to break free from a two-year semi-retirement. He recently tried out coaching young figure skaters in the Philippines and liked it. "I've always wanted to be a coach, I've always loved sharing whatever I've learned to everybody," he said in an interview on CNN Philippines. "I actually have a student in the US, 50-plus years old and I was able to make him do jumps and spins and everything."
Martinez made his Winter Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia in 2014. Four years later he got a break to return to the Games after Sweden relinquished its Olympic spot, it was transferred to the Philippines, allowing Martinez to compete in the 2018 Pyeongchang, South Korea Winter Olympics.
He would have wanted to represent the Philippines in other tournaments after that, but there were reasons holding him back from competition. "There's definitely reasons why I couldn't compete. I'll just do my best for the next Olympics, that's all I can say," said Martinez. "All of these plans have been reasons for me to compete in the next Olympics."
Source: news.abs-cbn.com
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