Alpine skiing and the Filipinos competing in it at this year's Winter Olympics
MANILA, Philippines — Two Filipinos will be seeing action next month in the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026.
Francis Ceccarelli, 22, and Tallulah Proulx, 17, will take part in the Winter Olympics set from February 6-22.
The two will be competing in alpine skiing, both in the slalom and giant slalom. They were able to qualify through the quota system, with the former being the first Filipino to qualify in the Winter games, while the latter was the first Filipina, and youngest from the Philippines to become a Winter Olympian.
This was confirmed by the Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation, as the Olympic quota was confirmed.
For a nation without snow, Filipinos may not be too familiar with skiing. Based on shows, skiing usually uses a board and sticks.
But what is alpine skiing? What are slaloms, and why must there be giant ones? What is needed for such events?
Alpine skiing
According to the Olympics website, there are two types of events — technical and speed.
Both the giant slalom and slalom are technical events, while the downhill and the “Super G” are speed events. The combined event is, well, a combination of both speed and technical events.
The slalom, the Olympics site said, is the “most technical event in Alpine skiing.”
The gates where the skiers have to go round are set “very close together”, and athletes would need to perform fast turns and have rapid changes in direction.
“Slalom has the shortest course and the quickest turns in Alpine skiing but skiers still reach around 60-70 kilometers per hour,” it said.
The skiers will thus complete two runs. The fastest times added together will be the winner.
Giant slalom, on the flipside, is the fastest technical event.
There will be two heats on the same day, and the fastest total time will determine the winner.
The courses are different, the Olympics said and skiers could reach speeds of about 80 kilometers per hour.
“With speeds of up to 80 kph, giant slalom requires agility and speed. Skiers navigate wider gates over two heats,” the event’s Instagram page said.
The two skiers follow Filipino athletes Juan Cirpiano, Raymond Ocampo, Michawel Teruel and Asa Miller to compete in the sport in the Winter Olympics.
Skiers
Now, let’s meet the athletes themselves.
Ceccarelli, according to the Olympics website, was born in Quezon City before he was adopted by Italian parents.
He moved to Italy at the age of eight, and he started skiing soon enough. His adoptive mother was a former professional skier- Lisa Seghi.
“Since I started skiing, my Filipino identity has always been with me,” Ceccarelli told Olympics.com in an article published late last year.
“It represents where I was born and where I'm from. It was a goal for me to ski for the Philippines, because it is not every day that we have a Filipino athlete skiing at international level.”
Ceccarelli has already represented the Philippines at the 2025 Asian Winter Games, but his stint ended in disqualification for exceeding slalom lines.
Another athlete who flew the Philippine flag in the Asian Winter Games was Proulx. There, she ranked 16th out of 44 skiers.
In an article by the Olympic Council of Asia published in February, Proulx, who grew up in Park City, Utah, started skiing at the age of three.
And now, as a 17-year-old, she will be representing the Philippines in the Olympics, which she dreamt of before.
With about two weeks to go before the Winter Olympics, the Philippines’ medal hopes are resting on the two athletes.
Here’s to hoping that the first medal of the Philippines in the Winter Games will not go down a slippery slope.
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