A BOOST FOR PH FIGURE SKATING (L-R): Senator Francis TOL Tolentino with world-class figure skaters Isabella Gamez and Aleksandr Korovin, and Philippine Skating Union (PHSU) President Nikki Cheng. (November 26, 2024)

The country’s dream to win its first-ever medal in the Winter Olympics got a major boost with the passage of the new law granting Philippine citizenship to Russian figure skater Aleksandr Korovin.

This was stressed by Senator Francis Tolentino, as he lauded President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s recent signing of Republic Act (RA) No. 12115, which the senator sponsored in the upper chamber.

“Being a tropical country should not hinder the Philippines from dreaming of succeeding at the Winter Olympics, just as our athletes have shone in the recent stagings of the Summer Olympics by winning multiple medals and bringing honor to the country,” he said.

Auction results showed that the Bureau of the Treasury made a full award of P15 billion in reissued T-bonds, which have a remaining life of six years and nine months.

The senator added it was in the pursuit of the Filipinos’ ‘Ice Castles’ and ‘Cool Runnings’ dreams, and to boost figure skating, which has gained enormous popularity among the youth, that he and other lawmakers pushed for the measure.

Korovin, alongside Filipina figure skater Isabella Gamez, has been proudly carrying the country’s flag under the stewardship of the Philippine Skating Union (PHSU) since 2022.

According to the PHSU website, Gamez and Korovin won the country’s first-ever pairs medal at an International Skating Union (ISU) competition – a silver in France in 2022. They were also the first Southeast Asian and Philippines pair to qualify and compete at the prestigious World Figure Skating Championships in 2023 and 2024. Gamez and Korovin are also the first pair from Southeast Asia and the Philippines to win a spot at the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating in 2024.

The pair looks forward to excelling in the upcoming Asian Winter Games in China in February of next year and qualifying for the Winter Olympics in 2026 to be held in Italy.

During the Senate deliberations, Korovin shared with the senators how he had come to love the Philippines as his home. The champion figure skater is also committed to teaching and inspiring young Filipino figure skaters to fulfill their dreams.

An active supporter of sports, it was also Tolentino who pushed for the law that naturalized Ginebra resident import Justin Brownlee, who led the Gilas Men’s Basketball Team to clinch a historic gold at the Asian Games last year – the first for the country after 61 years.

READ: Kouame officially a naturalized Filipino ahead of Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers

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