The Philippines’ delegation hopes to make their mark on the snow in the 9th Asian Winter Games this February.
With a year left before the 2026 Winter Olympics, the Philippines looks to make a splash in the winter sports circuit when the nation’s representatives compete in the 9th Asian Winter Games scheduled this February 7 to 14 in Harbin, China.
A 20-athlete delegation will represent the Philippines in this year’s Asian Winter Games, which also marks the country’s fourth time participating since it was first held in 1986. Moreover, it will be another attempt for our top winter sports athletes to snag an elusive medal or two in the regional meet.
Ahead of the winter games, let’s take a look at our 20-strong delegation bound for Harbin.
Spread out across events
This year’s delegation will be spread out across six of the 11 events in the Asian Winter Games, namely curling, figure skating, alpine skiing, freestyle skiing, short track speed skating, and snowboarding.
Curling Pilipinas leads the way with 10 representatives:
Men’s:
- Benjo Delarmente
- Alan Frei
- Christian Haller
- Enrico Pfister
- Marc Pfister
Women’s:
- Anne Bonache
- Kathleen Dubberstein
- Leilani Dubberstein
- Sheila Mariano
- Jessica Pfister
Figure skating follows with four home bets in the tandem of Russian-Filipino star Aleksandr Korovin and partner Isabella Gamez, and individual skaters Paolo Borromeo, Cathryn Limketkai, and Sofia Frank.
Alpine skiing, meanwhile, will be represented by Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx.
Laetaz Amihan Rabe will carry the flag in freestyle skiing, while Peter Joseph Groseclose will look to rule short track speed skating. Adrian Tongco, meanwhile, will participate in the Asian Winter Games’ snowboarding tilt.
Such diversity is a welcome development for the Philippines, as it further shows our capability to compete in winter sports despite our trademark tropical climate. A spread-out contingent also provides more opportunities for the country to score its first Asian Winter Games medal since debuting in 1990 with alpine skier Michael Teruel.
Individual recognition
Also worth noting is that much of our delegation has been making waves in their respective winter sports over the past few years.
Rabe and Groseclose were two of the Philippines’ three representatives in the 2024 Youth Olympics held in Gangwon, South Korea. Rabe competed in the freeski slopestyle event in Gangwon, along with the big air event. Groseclose, meanwhile, competed in the 500-, 1000-, and 1500-meter events of short track speed skating in last year’s Youth Olympics.
Russian-born Korovin, who took his naturalization oath this January, will lead the figure skating delegation. Korovin and Filipina partner Gamez have represented the Philippines since 2022, which resulted in the country’s first international medal in the 2nd Trophee Metropole Nice Cote D’Azur in Nice, France.
Eighteen-year-old individual skater Limketkai was a silver medalist in the 2024 Reykjavik International Games (RIG) junior women’s division, while 19-year-old Frank is the national record holder for best scores in short program (53.3), free skate (94.79), and total score (148.09) among others.
Curling Pilipinas, meanwhile, rose to the Pan-Continental Curling Championships Division A last November after sweeping the Division B championships in Canada. This triumph also boosts their 2026 Winter Olympics dream greatly, as it gives them a shot to compete in a Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament later this year.
Given everything, there’s a lot to look forward to when Team Philippines takes on the snow at the 9th Asian Winter Games this February. With the diversity and quality of our talents, history might just be in the making in Harbin a month from now.
Banner images from the Philippine Skating Union and Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines on Facebook and Instagram.