Homegrown Olympian Michael Martinez bags Gold in Slovenia Tourney
Michael Christian Martinez (center) (Photo
from Martinez’s Facebook Page)
Homegrown Olympian MichaelChristian Martinez bagged the gold in the recently held Triglav
Trophy International Figure Skating Competition in Jesenice, Slovenia. The
18-year old Martinez finished the free skate finals in the Senior Men’s
category with a score of 195.13 points, besting Japan, United Kingdom, Korea,
Austria and Norway.
“I thank God for this blessing, another
gold medal in the senior event. I’m very happy I made it to first place,” Martinez
said on his Facebook page.
With the Triglav Trophy, Martinez now has
three gold medals in the senior level which includes the recent Skate Helena in
Serbia and the Crystal
Skate in 2012 in Romania.
Filipino American Samantha Cabiles finished
6th in the Junior Ladies’ category out of 21 skaters with a score of 100.04
points.
The Philippine
Skating Union (PhSU), which is a member of the International Skating Union (ISU) named
Martinez and Cabiles as the country’s
representatives to the Triglav Trophy.
Every year since 1992, the Triglav Trophy
gathers over 100 of the best young figure skaters from all over the world. The
competition is hosted in Jesenice ice hall Podmežakla and has its roots in
1992.
Martinez took up figure skating when he was
eight, inspired by skaters spinning and jumping while shopping with his mother
at SM Southmall. 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.
Samantha Cabiles (Photo from Cabiles’
Facebook Page)
Cabiles, who was born in Hawaii and is now
based in Michigan started skating since she was 11. Of Filipino decent, Cabiles
also competes in the Philippine Nationals and recently ranked second in the 2013
Philippine National Figure Skating Championships held at SM Mall of Asia every
year. Cabiles also placed 10th in the Junior category of the recent Dragon
Trophy competition in Ljubjana, Slovenia in February 2014. She trains in
Toronto, Canada. Due to her high and
powerful jumps, she earned the moniker, “The Skating Gazelle”.
SM has been the primary supporter of the
PhSU since the latter was established in 2005. SM also provides a venue for the
events of PhSU for the promotion of ice skating in the Philippines.
PhSU
received accreditation from the ISU in 2006, coinciding with the opening of the
SM Mall of Asia skating rink that year.
In turn, PhSU, as the sole governing body for Figure and Speed Skating provides
SM and its ice skating rinks with marketing tools such as local and
international skating events and its network of skating athletes.
Through the years, SM and the PhSU have
conducted several figure skating competitions that have given birth to international
champions such as Martinez.
The PhSU is the governing body in the
country for figure skating and speed skating. It is a member of the ISU which
is the exclusive international sports federation recognized by the
International Olympic Committee. The ISU administers speed and figure skating
throughout the world. It is composed of a number of national organizations
called ISU members who administer ISU sports at the national level.
The excellence demonstrated by skaters
especially during competitions is a mark of quality that the SM Skating Rink can provide
with its world-class venue and facilities. Property conglomerate SM Prime Holdings, Inc. operates
skating rinks through SM Lifestyle Entertainment, Inc. at the SMMega Fashion Hall in Mandaluyong, SM Mall of Asia in Pasay, and SM
Southmall in Las Pinas.
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