Michael Christian Martinez

Michael Christian Martinez
Martinez in 2014 Winter Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Michael Christian Martinez
Country represented	Philippines
Born	November 4, 1996 Parañaque, Philippines
Home town	Muntinlupa, Philippines
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Coach	Igor Samohin
Former coach	Ilia Kulik Peter Kongkasem Maria Teresa Martinez John Nicks Viktor Kudriavtsev
Choreographer	Nikolai Morozov Philip Mills
Former choreographer	Justin Dillon
Skating club	Metro ISC
Training locations	Hackensack, New Jersey Manila, Philippines
Former training locations	Lake Forest, California
Began skating	2005
World standing	27 (as of April 2016)[1]
ISU personal best scores
Combined total	220.36 2015 Cup of China
Short program	74.45 2014 Golden Spin
Free skate	148.12 2015 Cup of China
Medal record Representing  Philippines Men's Figure skating Asian Trophy 2015 Bangkok Men's singles

Michael Christian Martinez (born November 4, 1996) is a Filipino figure skater. He is the 2015 Asian Trophy champion, a two-time Triglav Trophy champion and has won one ISU Challenger Series medal, silver at the 2014 Warsaw Cup. Martinez is the first skater from Southeast Asia and figure skater from the tropical zone to qualify for the Olympics and the only athlete to represent the Philippines at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Personal life

Martinez was born on November 4, 1996 in Parañaque,^[2] the youngest of three children.^[3] He began experiencing asthmatic bronchitis at two months old and was frequently in the hospital.^[2] Although the cold rink initially had a detrimental effect, he stated in 2014, "year after year my health keeps improving, so my mother fully supported me to continue skating. he said it's better to spend the money on skating than in the hospital."^[4] Martinez graduated from high school in around 2013.^[5]

Career

Early career

Martinez began skating in 2005 at the SM Southmall ice rink.^[6] In 2009, he missed two months after a skating blade cut his thigh.^[2] In addition to training in Manila, in 2010 he began spending several months a year in California working with John Nicks and Ilia Kulik.^[4][7]

Martinez debuted on the ISU Junior Grand Prix series in the 2010–11 season. In 2011, he tore two ligaments in his ankle, leading to three months of recovery.^[2] In April 2012, he tore a medial ligament in his knee and was off the ice for three months.^[2][7]

2012–13 season

Martinez landed his first triple Axel in competition at a 2012–13 Junior Grand Prix event in Lake Placid, New York.^[7] He placed 6th in his JGP event in Croatia. At the 2012 Crystal Skate of Romania, Martinez won his first senior international title, also a first for the Philippines. He finished 5th in his second appearance at the World Junior Championships and set a new personal best overall score of 191.64 points. A fractured ankle kept him off the ice for two months in 2013.^[2]

2013–14 season

In 2013–14, Martinez started his season at the 2013 JGP Latvia where he finished 4th. He then competed on the senior level at the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy, the last qualifying event for the 2014 Winter Olympics. He finished 7th and earned a spot for the Philippines in men's singles — a first for his country.^[8] Martinez then competed at the 2013 JGP Estonia and won his first JGP medal, a bronze. In January 2014, he received treatment for an inflamed knee.^[9] He withdrew from the 2014 Four Continents Championships but competed at Skate Helena and took the gold medal.

The first skater from Southeast Asia to qualify for the Olympics, Martinez was also the only athlete representing the Philippines at the 2014 Winter Olympics and served as his country's flagbearer at the opening ceremony. Viktor Kudriavtsev coached him for one month leading up to the Olympics.^[10] In Sochi, Martinez qualified for the free skate after placing 19th in the short program with a score of 64.81 points, a season's best. He scored 119.44 in the free skate and finished 19th overall with a total score of 184.25.^[11][12]

MVP Sports Foundation helps fund the skater and announced a bonus of $10,000 after the Olympics.^[13] He was named an adopted son of Pasay by Mayor Antonino Calixto.^[14]

Recovering from a recurring knee injury after the Olympics, Martinez was replaced by Christopher Caluza at the 2014 World Championships. Martinez returned to competition at the 2014 Triglav Trophy and won the gold medal. In June 2014, he began training at Hackensack, New Jersey's Ice House, under the guidance of Nikolai Morozov.^[15]

2014–15 season

Making his ISU Challenger Series (CS) debut, Martinez finished sixth overall at the Lombardia Trophy. He was assigned to his first senior Grand Prix event, the 2014 Skate America.^[16] In his short program, he fell on his triple axel, but landed all his other jumps and received level fours on his camel spin, his flying sit spin, and his step sequence; he finished ninth.^[17] He also placed ninth in the free skate, falling on his triple axel, underrotating his triple toe in the triple lutz-triple toe combination, and stepping out in his double axel towards the end of the program.^[18] Martinez finished tenth overall.^[19]

In November 2014, Martinez competed at the CS Warsaw Cup where he won the silver medal behind Russia's Alexander Petrov. Martinez posted new personal best scores with a total of 213.38 points.^[20] Martinez competed in his first Worlds at the 2015 World Championships finishing in 21st position.

2015–16 season

Martinez withdrew from several summer competitions due to ongoing therapy and rehabilitation for his spine. He also was unable to compete at the 2015 U.S. International Figure Skating Classic due to acute asthma.^[21] He started his season by winning gold at the 2015 Asian Figure Skating Trophy, becoming the first Filipino to win the event. He then competed at 2015 Cup of China where he finished 6th with a new personal best overall score of 220.36 points. He also competed at 2015 Warsaw Cup and Golden Spin where he finished 4th and 7th.

At the 2016 World Figure Skating Championships, finished 19th out of 30 competitors improving from last season's tournament. Martinez planned to execute a quad jump during the tournament's program but decided against the plan. Martinez was advised against by his coach Igor Samohin to do the quad jump at the tournament due to him being inconsistent with executing the move during his training prior to the tournament. Martinez plans to be able to execute the move at tournaments during the next season as part of his efforts to be included among the top 10 figure skaters in the rankings.^[22]

Programs

Season	Short program	Free skating	Exhibition
2015-2016 [23]	Egmont by Ludwig van Beethoven	Romeo and Juliet by Sergei Prokofiev	Chasing Cars by Snow Patrol Nocturne into Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
2014–2015 [24]	Piano Concerto No. 2 by Sergei Rachmaninoff	The Phantom of the Opera by Andrew Lloyd Webber choreo. by Nikolai Morozov[25]
2013–2014 [26]	Romeo and Juliet by Nino Rota choreo. by Philip Mills	Malagueña by Ernesto Lecuona choreo. by Justin Dillon	Nocturne into Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen
2012–2013 [27]	Toccata and Fugue in D minor by Johann Sebastian Bach performed by Vanessa-Mae	King Arthur by Hans Zimmer
2010–2012 [6][28]	The Jellicle Ball (from Cats) by Andrew Lloyd Webber	Tango De Los Exilados by Walter Taieb performed by Vanessa-Mae

Competitive highlights

GP: Grand Prix; CS: Challenger Series; JGP: Junior Grand Prix

International[29]
Event	09–10	10–11	11–12	12–13	13–14	14–15	15–16
Olympics					19th
Worlds						21st	19th
Four Continents				16th	WD	WD	9th
GP Cup of China							6th
GP Skate America						10th
CS Finlandia							9th
CS Golden Spin						6th	7th
CS Lombardia						6th
CS Warsaw Cup						2nd	4th
Asian Trophy							1st
Crystal Skate				1st
Nebelhorn					7th
New Year's Cup				3rd
NRW Trophy				13th
Skate Helena					1st
Triglav Trophy					1st	1st
U.S. Classic					6th
Volvo Open Cup					4th
International: Junior or novice[29]
Junior Worlds			15th	5th
Youth Olympics			7th
JGP Australia			8th
JGP Croatia				6th
JGP Estonia					3rd
JGP Japan		17th
JGP Latvia					4th
JGP USA				4th
Tirnavia	1st N.
National[29]
Philippines				3rd
N. = Novice level; TBD = Assigned; WD = Withdrew

Detailed results

2015–16 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
November 27–29, 2015	2015 Warsaw Cup	6 65.64	4 140.66	4 206.30
November 5–8, 2015	2015 Cup of China	7 72.24	5 148.12	6 220.36
October 8–11, 2015	2015 Finlandia Trophy	7 65.18	9 125.36	9 190.54
August 5–8, 2015	2015 Asian Figure Skating Trophy	1 72.14	1 121.06	1 193.20
2014–15 season
Date	Event	SP	FS	Total
April 16–19, 2015	2015 Triglav Trophy	5 51.68	1 130.16	1 181.84
March 23–29, 2015	2015 World Figure Skating Championships	22 67.03	20 125.35	21 192.38
November 21–24, 2014	2014 Golden Spin	4 74.45	6 130.00	6 204.45
November 21–24, 2014	2014 Warsaw Cup	2 73.81	2 139.57	2 213.38
October 24–26, 2014	2014 Skate America	9 72.81	9 124.77	10 197.58
September 21–22, 2014	2014 Lombardia Trophy	6 67.36	5 132.56	5 199.92

References

1. http://www.isuresults.com/ws/ws/wsmen.htm
2. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ". Sochi2014.com. Archived from the original on April 6, 2014.
3. Payo, Jasmine W. (February 25, 2014). "Michael Martinez seeks podium finish in 2018 Games". Philippine Daily Inquirer.
4. Park, Madison (February 14, 2014). "A first for Southeast Asia: An Olympic figure skater". CNN.
5. Leyba, Olmin (April 25, 2013). "PH skater chases Olympic dream". The Philippine Star (abs-cbnnews.com).
6. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2011/2012". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on April 19, 2012.
7. Flade, Tatjana (September 2, 2012). "Martinez puts the Philippines on the map for figure skating". Golden Skate.
8. "Nebelhorn Trophy - Olympic Qualifying Event - Review". International Skating Union. September 28, 2013.
9. Orendain, Simone (January 15, 2014). "Filipino figure skater who can't always afford coach turns to prayer". Catholic News Service (Catholic Register).
10. McCarvel, Nicholas (February 5, 2014). "Michael Christian Martinez, figure skater from the Philippines, makes Olympic history". NBC.
11. "Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014: Men's result". International Skating Union. February 14, 2014.
12. "Men Free Skating". Sochi2014.com. February 14, 2014.
13. "MVP Sports Foundation grants $10k bonus for Michael Christian Martinez". Interaksyon. February 15, 2014.
14. "Martinez named adopted son of Pasay". ABS-CBN News. February 25, 2014.
15. Tagala, Don (June 5, 2014). "PH Olympian Michael Martinez levels up with new coach". ABS-CBN News.
16. "July 10, 2014" (PDF).
17. "ISU GP 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America – Men Short Program – Judges Details Per Skater" (PDF). ISU Results. International Skating Union. 24 October 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
18. "ISU GP 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America – Men Free Skating – Judges Details Per Skater" (PDF). ISU Results. International Skating Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
19. "ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating – 2014 Hilton HHonors Skate America – Men – Result". ISU Results. International Skating Union. 25 October 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
20. "Warsaw Cup 2014 – Men – Final Results". ISU Results. International Skating Union. 23 November 2014. Retrieved 9 March 2016.
21. Slater, Paula (24 September 2015). "Martinez remains optimistic despite injury". Golden Skate.
22. Henson, Joaquin (17 April 2016). "Martinez ends ISU season on high note". The Philippine Star. Retrieved 16 April 2016.
23. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2014/2015". International Skating Union.
24. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2014/2015". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on 29 December 2014.
25. http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/sports/06/05/14/ph-olympian-michael-martinez-levels-new-coach
26. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2013/2014". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 15, 2014.
27. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2012/2013". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on February 8, 2013.
28. "Michael Christian MARTINEZ: 2010/2011". International Skating Union. Archived from the original on September 29, 2010.
29. "Competition Results: Michael Christian MARTINEZ". International Skating Union.

External links

• Michael Christian Martinez at the International Skating Union
• Twitter Official Page
• Instagram Official Page