PH Winter Games bets get going in Italy
BORMIO, Italy—For Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx, young skiers based here in Italy and in Utah, but with Filipino blood in their veins, representing the Philippines in these Winter Olympics is like a dream.
Ceccarelli, a 22-year-old who was born in Quezon City and was adopted by Italian parents when he was eight, gets to live that dream today for Team Philippines in the Alpine skiing event.
Living in Tuscany, which is roughly 500 kilometers from this small town of picturesque ski resorts and below-zero temperatures, Ceccarelli will plunge into action at 10 a.m. (5 p.m. Manila time). He will have two runs.
He will also compete in the slalom event on Monday for another two runs at Stelvio Ski Centre.
Ceccarelli should enjoy the familiarity with the Italian Alps and the air, but not the competition course itself, when he makes his debut in the Winter Olympics. He becomes only the seventh Filipino skier since 1972, when the Philippines first participated in the Games held in Sapporo, Japan, to take part.
Ceccarelli, who speaks mostly Italian, said it has always been a dream to be in the Winter Olympics, much more represent his land of birth.
“Since I started skiing, my Filipino identity has always been with me,” Ceccarelli told Olympics.com in a previous interview. “It represents where I was born and where I’m from.”
Proulx, on the other hand, at 17, is also making her debut and is the second youngest to represent the Philippines in the Games after fellow Alpine skier Asa Miller, who saw action in the 2018 edition in South Korea.
At that time, Miller was over a month younger than Proulx is today.
Like Ceccarelli, the young skier whose father hails from Eastern Samar will hope for the best in the giant slalom and slalom events, but in Cortina, which is almost three hours by land away from Bormio.
Proulx, who learned how to ski at the age of three during a family trip in Tahoe, California, will be on deck tomorrow and on Feb. 18, also with two runs each day.
