CECCARELLI CHASES DREAM

BORMIO, Italy — The “Fil-Italian Job” begins today for Team Philippines in these Winter Olympics.

Francis Ceccarelli, who was born in Quezon City but moved to Italy when he was eight, kicks off the Philippine campaign today when he vies in Alpine skiing’s Giant Slalom event at the frozen Stelvio Ski Centre here.

Ceccarelli, now 22, is in his first, and hopefully not the last, Winter Olympics. He wants to make his presence felt for his land of birth, a tropical country where the closest thing to snow and ice are in theme parks, man-made skating rinks or the popular show Disney on Ice during the Christmas holidays.

Ceccarelli will be on deck today, which falls on Valentine’s Day, at around 10 a.m. (5 p.m. Manila time) for his first run and then again at 1:30 p.m. for his second run in the very delicate zig-zagging downhill course.

He will also vie in the Slalom event on Monday as one of the very few Filipino skiers, around seven of them, ever to grace the Winter Olympics.

The Philippines, which waited a hundred years to win its first gold in the Summer Olympics, and now has three, has never won any medal in the Winter Games.

And the chances now rest on Ceccarelli, and the country’s only other qualifier here, fellow Alpine skier Tallulah Proulx.

The 17-year-old Proulx is the first Filipina to make it to the Winter Olympics. She is also entered in the Giant Slalom and Slalom events but will see action in Cortina, which is almost three hours away from Ceccarelli by land.

Proulx, whose father hails from Eastern Samar and is now based in Utah, will get her chance tomorrow and on the 18th, four days before the closing ceremony of the Games which drew 2,871 elite athletes from 92 nations. 

There are 116 events being contested in eight sports and 16 disciplines – on ice and snow.

Ceccarelli said it’s such an honor to represent the Philippines. 

“Since I started skiing, my Filipino identity has always been with me. It represents where I was born and where I’m from,” he told Olympics.com in a previous interview. 

The same goes with Proulx, who started at the age of three in Tahoe, California. She never stopped and now she’s here at the Olympics with hopes of inspiring future generations to represent the Philippines.

“Representation is very important,” Proulx said. “There has to be one person to do it first. I am grateful that I got to be that person for Filipinas and Filipinos all around the world.”  

“We hail our two athletes for making it to this year’s Winter Olympics and compete in Alpine skiing, a sport that we Filipinos only see on TV.  Our tropical country being represented by these young athletes is a big achievement for us,” said Philippine Sports Commission chaiman Patrick Gregorio.

Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino is on hand, in Milan, to oversee the participation. As always, he is filled with hope that the Filipino athletes can or may excell.

“We’ve won gold medals in the Summer Olympics. This is another challenge for us,” said Tolentino.

2026-02-13T16:31:33Z