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3 Filipinos to compete in Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics

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<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Final preparations for the upcoming Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics are underway at Gangneung Oval in Gangneung, South Korea, January 3, 2024. The event will take place in Gangneung and other cities in Gangwon Province from January 19 to February 1, with some 2,900 athletes from 70 nations to participate. Yonhap via EPA-EFE." src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2024/news/01/08/wyo.jpg"/><figcaption>Final preparations for the upcoming Gangwon Winter Youth Olympics are underway at Gangneung Oval in Gangneung, South Korea, January 3, 2024. The event will take place in Gangneung and other cities in Gangwon Province from January 19 to February 1, with some 2,900 athletes from 70 nations to participate. Yonhap via EPA-EFE.</figcaption></figure></div>MANILA -- Three young Filipino athletes will see action in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, which starts on January 19 in Gangwon, South Korea. Peter Joseph Groseclose, Avery Uriel Balbanida and Laetaz Amihan Rabe will represent the country in the Winter Games, Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Abraham &quot;Bambol&quot; Tolentino announced on Monday. &quot;We Filipinos have defied limitations and embraced the challenges of competing in winter sports through the years,&quot; said Tolentino. &quot;We&#x27;re living in a tropical country, but our spirit simply knows no boundaries. Our athletes are united in pursuing Olympic excellence and that’s also a testament to their Olympic spirit,&quot; he added.Groseclose, 16, will compete in short track of speed skating, while Balbanida, 14, will vie in cross-country of skiing. Rabe, also 14, will see action in free ski slope style and big air.The Winter Youth Olympics, which will run until February 1, features athletes between 15 to 18 years old.Ada Milby, the president of the Philippine Rugby Football Union, is the chef de mission. She will be assisted by Philippine Skating Union president Nikki Cheng and the Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation, headed by Secretary General Jezreel Apelar.Groseclose, according to Cheng, qualified for Gangwon with his No. 32 ranking in the boys’ 500 meters during the World Short Track Speed Skating Championships February last year in Dresden, Germany. He will race in the 500m, 1000m and 1,500m.Balbanida, a Filipino-Canadian, earned his International Ski and Snowboard Federation, known by the acronym FİŞ, license and qualification by gaining points in FİŞ-sanctioned tournaments last year. Rabe, on the other hand, was an alternate in freestyle slope style and big air but gained qualification to Gangwon after two alternates ahead of her withdrew.This is the third time that Filipino athletes have qualified to the Winter Youth Olympics since 2012 in Innsbruck, Austria, where alpine skier Abel Tesfamariam finished No. 37 in giant slalom and figure skater Michael Martinez ranked No. 7 in men’s singles.The Philippines did not qualify an athlete at Lillehammer (Norway) 2016, but returned in 2020 in Lausanne.

Three young Filipino athletes will see action in the 2024 Winter Youth Olympics, which starts on January 19 in Gangwon, South Korea. 