Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Michael Martinez returns to the Philippines after winning the gold medal at the international Triglav Trophy in Slovenia for the second time in a row.
Arriving with his ever-approachable quality, the skater has grown into a presence of a more proficient athlete hungry to win the gold for his country.
Traning regimen
Resting only on Sundays, Martinez has dedicated his time to honing his skills by practicing six times a week.
Even in the Philippines, Martinez never shies away from practice, spending at least eight hours of training on ice – practicing technical elements of his jumps, glides, and spins six hours a day, with a minimum of four program run-throughs.
He inserts an hour each day for off-ice strength training, and another hour for choreography and dance.
Receiving world-class training, Martinez utilizes different coaches to develop varied abilities. He works with Russian coach Llia Kulik and British teacher John Nicks for his jumps, American Scott Wedland develops his spins, Italian Lia Trovati works on his on-ice dance, while Peter Kongkasem from America acts as his travel and freestyle coach.
What’s next?
Determined to advance his world ranking, Martinez will be leaving on the first of July to continue his end-to-end tournaments:
July 10-12, Los Angeles Open Championship (California, USA)
July 23-25, Skate Detroit (Michigan, USA)
August 5-8, Asian Trophy (Bangkok, Thailand)
September 16-29, USA Classic (Utah, USA)
October 8-11, Filandia Trophy (Espoo, Finland)
November 6-8, Grand Prix Cup of China (Beijing, China)
December 9-12, Golden Spring of Zagreb (Zagreb, Croatia)
SEA Games, perhaps?
Making keen observations on his competitors and taking into note each tactical movement, Martinez humbly admitted that he has a quite a journey ahead of him on the road to excellence.
“As a growing athlete, I recognize that I still need to work on my artistry, choreography, technical skills, and overall presentation,” said Martinez.
“I am excited to develop into the figure skater that our country may be further proud of and am thrilled that I will be representing the Philippines internationally.”
With figure skating becoming a more acknowledged sport as part of the 2017 SEA Games, Martinez expressed he wants to compete in the precursor to the SEA Games.
“Aside from the international tournaments lined up next year, I will also be competing in the 2016 National Championships,” said Martinez.
“If I make it through, it would be an honor to represent the Philippines in the 2017 SEA Games, in hopes to win the gold medal for our country.”
