Michael Martinez undecided on future

MANILA, Philippines — Figure skater Michael Martinez admitted yesterday he took a step back from the rink after failing to qualify twice for the Winter Olympics and it was too late to make up for the four-month layoff when called up as a late substitute three weeks before the Pyeongchang event.

Martinez said the future is up in the air at the moment. “I hope to continue inspiring a lot of people and to be part of their story in life saying, ‘What I heard or learned about you or you being part of my journey made me where I am now,’” he told The Star. “For now, we will never know or hold the future ahead of us. So I’d like to say that let’s wait and take it from there.”

Despite the lack of training, Martinez delivered a clean no-deduction performance and still did the country proud in Pyeongchang last Friday. However, his short program was conservative as he opted not to take chances with any risky quad spins or jumps. He paid the price for the basic approach and finished last in skating skills, transitions and choreography. Martinez didn’t make the 24-man cut-off for freeskate and wound up No. 28 overall. 

Now, the question is – will Martinez skate on? The World Championships are scheduled in Milan on March 19-25. But with his showing in Pyeongchang, Martinez will need to maximize his training and upgrade his execution in order to make an impact in Milan.

At 21, Martinez could still go a long way in his skating career. Among the top 15 in the short program last Friday, 10 were older than Martinez.  Israel’s Oleksil Bychenko is 30. Spain’s Javier Fernandez is 26 and competed in his third Winter Olympics. Uzbekistan’s Misha Ge and Canada’s Keegan Messing are also 26. American Adam Rippon is 28 while the Czech Republic’s Michal Brezina and Canada’s Patrick Chen are 27. Gold medalist Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan is 23, Belgium’s Jorik Hendrickx 25 and Russia’s Mikhail Kolyada 22. Martinez will be only 25 when Beijing hosts the next Winter Olympics in 2022.

“Let’s face it, every athlete in this world wants to participate in the Olympics and knowing that there is no longer a chance in going then why waste the time, effort and things you need to sacrifice in order to compete?” he said. “Knowing I didn’t make it, I settled myself to be able to sustain my living situation in L. A. I just did what anyone would do if the dream or goal you set in life is no longer or any way possible to reach.” 

According to Stephanie De Lancey of NBC Sports, Martinez “returned to studying business law and started a job as an assistant at a law firm in Irvine, California” after failing to qualify for Pyeongchang at the Nebelhorn Trophy last September.  But as the No. 1 standby, Martinez should’ve been advised by the Philippine Skating Union to keep practicing in case of a call-up.