Banking on its success in the 2024 Summer Olympics, the Philippines will be sending 20 athletes to the 2025 Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China.
Fresh off a successful run at the Summer Olympics, the Philippines is now setting its sights on a new challenge: winning its first-ever medal at the Asian Winter Games in 2025.
This ambition follows the nation's recent triumphs, including three consecutive gold medals in the Summer Games.
“We’ve already accomplished the dream in the Summer Olympics – three gold medals in consecutive games. And that dream, we want to also achieve in the Winter Olympics,” said Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino, as cited by the Philippine News Agency.
While precise historical records are unavailable, Tolentino believes this will be the largest Filipino delegation to ever compete in the AsianWinter Games. The athletes will compete in six of the 11 sports featured in the Harbin program.
A significant portion of the team will participate in curling, a popular winter sport. The curling team includes 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. The Curling Winter Sports of the Philippines, established late last year, has recently joined the POC roster alongside the Philippine Skating Union and the Philippine Ski and Snowboarding Association.
Other athletes representing the Philippines, managed by chef de mission Richard Lim, include competitors in figure skating (Paolo Borromeo, Aleksandr Korovin, Cathryn Limketkai, Isabella Marie Gamez, and Sofia Lexi Jacqueline Frank), Alpine skiing (Francis Ceccarelli and Talullah Proulx), freestyle skiing (Laetaz Amihan Rabe), short track speed skating (Peter Joseph Groseclose), and snowboarding (Adrian Tongco).
The Asian Winter Games in Harbin will feature a total of 64 events. Harbin previously hosted the Games in 1996, and China also hosted the 3rd edition in Changchun in 2007. Historically, Japan has dominated the Asian Winter Games, followed by China and Kazakhstan.
Looking ahead to the 2026 Winter Olympics, which will be held in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo, Italy, from February 6 to 22, Tolentino acknowledged the immense challenge but expressed confidence based on the nation's recent Summer Olympics success. He cited weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo's historic first gold medal in Tokyo (2020) and gymnast Carlos Yulo's two gold medals in Paris (2024) as evidence of the Philippines' ability to achieve great things on the world stage.
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