Ceccarelli vows to get better

BORMIO, Italy – Francis Ceccarelli, the 22-year-old Fil-Italian skier in the 25th Winter Olympics, may be down – but certainly not out.

Ceccarelli recorded a 54th-place finish in a field of 81 in the men’s giant slalom event and did not finish the slalom at the frigid Stelvio Ski Centre here.

He was disappointed with the DNF but consoled himself with the fact that of 96 entries in slalom, held under severe snowy weather, only 39 made it through.

Even the Brazilian gold medalist in the giant slalom, Lucas Pinheiro, crashed out on the fast downhill course that offered sharp turns and tighter gates.

Ceccarelli knows what to do next.

“Never stop,” said the 22-year-old who was born in Quezon City but moved to Italy when he was eight. He now resides in Abetone, Tuscany with his Italian parents.

He said he will find ways to get better.

“Just never stop. Every day you can get really better. You can upgrade every day. And so, yeah, the next time, for the races, be better,” added Ceccarelli.

In slalom, skiers can travel as fast as 70 kph down the icy slopes. Ceccarelli pushed as hard and got past 10 gates (flags) before he fell to his right.

It was a minor crash, not one that could generate a million views on YouTube, and Ceccarelli had no trouble picking himself up.

It was perhaps nothing more than a bruised ego. Then he thought of the future, including another tournament in Turkey in a couple of weeks.

However, he did not look too far ahead like the 2029 Asian Winter Games in Kazakhstan or the 2030 Winter Olympics in France.

“We’ll see,” he said.

“Just push yourself harder – every day and every moment,” said Ceccarelli, who thanked the Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation under Jemuel Apelar, Philippine Olympic Committee headed by Abraham Tolentino and the Philippine Sports Commission, the government’s funding arm in sports, led by Patrick Gregorio.

“I’m happy with my work here. Representing the Philippines for me for the first time is my honor. For my people, for my family, for the (team) members,” he said.

Tallulah Proulx, 17, the first Filipina to vie in the Winter Olympics, was competing in the women’s slalom event in Cortina as of press time. She finished 52nd out of 76 participants in the giant slalom.

With 80 of the 116 events done, Norway was up in the medal standings with 14-8-9 (gold, silver, bronze) followed by host Italy (9-4-11), the United States (6-10-5), the Netherlands (6-6-1) and Germany (5-8-7).

Meanwhile, inside the white van that drove him back down to his hotel, Ceccarelli entertained topics outside of skiing, like the different Philippine dialects, how much he wanted to visit his land of birth, and meet boxing hero Manny Pacquiao.

The smile was back on his face.