Winter Games: Team Philippines ‘can’

MANILA, Philippines — Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino has a clear mindset as the Philippines fields two athletes to the 25th Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina in Italy: Nothing is impossible.

Tolentino, who flew to Italy yesterday to join the lean Philippine delegation, said the country winning three gold medals in the last two stagings of the Summer Olympics means that Filipino athletes can make it anywhere.

“We have proven that it can be done,” said Tolentino as he looked forward to this edition of the Winter Olympics, which fires off today to officially welcome 2,871 athletes from 92 nations.

Alpine skiers Francis Ceccarelli, 22, and Tallulah Proulx, 17, are left to carry the load for Philippines, which first competed in the Winter Olympics in 1972 in Sapporo in Japan, also with two athletes.

The Philippines has yet to win a medal in the Winter Olympics but broke ice in the Asian Winter Games with a gold medal on men’s curling in Harbin, China last year.

Tolentino said golden moments for the country in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Games in Tokyo and Paris, plus the full support or the Philippine Sports Commission under chairman Patrick Gregorio, should provide the needed push for the campaign in Milan and Cortina.