FILE–This picture taken on December 16, 2024 shows people having their pictures taken with mascots of the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China’s Northeastern Heilongjiang province. (Photo by ADEK BERRY / AFP)
MANILA – After winning three gold medals in the Paris Olympics, the Philippines is setting its sights on a first-ever medal at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
“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 in a news release on Wednesday.
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For starters, the Philippines will send 20 athletes to the 9th Asian Winter Games from Feb. 7 to 14 in Harbin, China.
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There are no available accurate records as to how many Filipinos have competed in the first eight editions of the Asian Winter Games, but Tolentino believed the team to Harbin is the biggest.
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“And our athletes are competing in six of the 11 sports on the Harbin 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 competing in curling, one of the most-watched winter sports discipline.
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The Curling Winter Sports of the Philippines, which was established late last year, joined Philippine Skating Union and Philippine Ski and Snowboarding Association in the POC roster.
Other members of Team Philippines managed 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 organized the 3rd Asian Winter Games in Changchun (2007).
Japan has 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 Feb. 6 to 22, 2026.
“The Winter Olympics are as extremely tough as the Summer Olympics, but we have proven that it could be done,” Tolentino said.
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Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo produced the country’s first gold medal in Tokyo (2020) and gymnast Carlos Yulo delivered two golds in Paris (2024).
