MANILA – Filipino-Italian Francis Ceccarelli is all fired up for his Winter Olympic Games debut next year.
He is the first Filipino to qualify for the tournament, to be jointly hosted by Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo in Italy on Feb. 6 to 22, 2026.
“I’m feeling good, and really proud of myself and for the people who support me. I’m really excited and ready for this Olympics season,” the 22-year-old Alpine skier said in an online interview Sunday.
Ceccarelli was born in Quezon City but was adopted by an Italian couple. He moved to Italy at the age of eight.
He resides in Abetone, a town in the province of Pistoia in Tuscany,
“I chose skiing because my mom’s family are skiers and because in Abetone, the principal sport is the ski. The first one who encouraged me to ski was my mom at ski school camp. After that, I thought that ski was really fun and with the passage of time, I decided to do skiing. I had many coaches … my first coach was my mom and now, my coach is Stefano,” Ceccarelli said.
Ceccarelli is currently training in Chile, where he continues high-altitude practice runs.
“I qualified for the Winter Olympics because I made many races and many trainings before. Also because I started skiing before I knew the Italian language, really … I think the secret for all these is constancy and continuity,” he said.
“So I participated in many races internationally, like FIS (International Ski and Snowboard Federation). I made good results in FIS races in slalom discipline. I had done the Asian Winter Games. I had a great opportunity to be on the podium but when you want to go further, it happens that you make mistakes,” he said.
Ceccarelli started representing the Philippines in 2023.
“Since I started skiing, my Filipino identity has always been with me. It represents where I was born and where I’m from. It was a goal for me to ski for the Philippines, because it is not every day that we have a Filipino athlete skiing at the international level,” he told the Olympics.com website in a previous interview. (PNA)
