FILE–This photo taken on Dec. 16, 2024 shows people having photos taken with mascots of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, northeast China’s Heilongjiang province. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
MANILA – After winning three gold medals at the Paris Olympics, the Philippines is aiming for a first-ever medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“We have already achieved our dream at the Summer Olympics: three consecutive gold medals. And we want to realize this dream in the Winter Olympics as well,” Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said in a press release on Wednesday.
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For starters, the Philippines will send 20 athletes to the 9th Asian Winter Games from February 7 to 14 in Harbin, China.
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There is no precise data on the number of Filipinos who participated in the first eight editions of the Asian Winter Games, but Tolentino believes the Harbin team is the largest.
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“And our athletes compete in six of the 11 sports in Harbin’s program,” he said.
Marc Angelo Pfister, Enrico Gabriel Pfister, Christian Patrick Haller, Alan Beat Frei, Jessica Pfister, Benjo Delarmente, Kathleen Dubberstein, Leilani Dubberstein, Sheila Mariano and Anne Marie Bonache make up the team that participates in curling, one of the sports of most watched winter. discipline.
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The Winter Curling Sports of the Philippines, which was established late last year, joined the Philippine Skating Union and the Philippine Ski and Snowboard Association in the POC roster.
Other members of Team Philippines led by chef de mission Richard Lim are Paolo Borromeo, Aleksandr Korovin, Cathryn Limketkai, Isabella Marie Gamez and Sofia Lexi Jacqueline Frank in figure skating; Francis Ceccarelli and Talullah Proulx in alpine skiing; Laetaz Amihan Rabe in freestyle skiing; Peter Joseph Groseclose in short track speed skating and Adrian Tongco in snowboarding.
A total of 64 events will be contested in Harbin, which also hosted in 1996. China hosted the 3rd Asian Winter Games in Changchun (2007).
Japan dominated the Asian Winter Games, followed by China and Kazakhstan. It hosted the first edition in Sapporo (1986) and the last edition in Sapporo and Obihiro (2017).
Meanwhile, Italy will host the 25th Winter Olympics in the cities of Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo from February 6 to 22, 2026.
“The Winter Olympics are as extremely difficult as the Summer Olympics, but we have proven that it is possible,” Tolentino said.
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Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo won the country’s first gold medal in Tokyo (2020) and gymnast Carlos Yulo won two gold medals in Paris (2024).
