Determined and whole-hearted, Michael Christian Martinez may not made it on the top at the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympics in Russia butin Slovenia he secured the coveted gold medal at the recent Triglav Trophy International Figure Skating Competition in Jesenice. The 18-year old Filipino figure skating contestant has proven that Philippines doesn’t need to have winter to excel in the said sports to win a medal. He competed on the senior men category against his contenders from Japan, United Kingdom, Korea, Austria and Norway.
Finishing with the score of 195.13 points and 5 points higher from the second placer, Martinez was very happy and thanked God from all his blessings including the gold medal he won. This is third gold medal that Martinez will be bringing home in the Philippines including the recent Skate Helena in Serbia and the Crystal Skate in 2012 in Romania.
Meanwhile, Filipino American Samantha Cabiles finished 6th in the Junior Ladies’ category out of 21 skaters with a score of 100.04 points. Both Marinez and Cabiles were part of the Philippine Skating Union (PhSU), which is a member of the International Skating Union (ISU).
Joining the celebration of Martinez’ success is SM Southmall where he started his training at the age of 8 before 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. Through the years, SM and the PhSU have conducted several figure skating competitions that have given birth to international champions such as Martinez.
To continue the dreams of every Filipino to follow the footsteps of Martinez and Cabiles, SM Prime Holdings, Inc. operates world class skating rinks through their SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc. at the SM Mega Fashion Hall in Mandaluyong, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, and SM Southmall in Las Pinas.
