MANILA, Philippines — Two-time Winter Olympian Michael Martinez will end his three-year hiatus from competition at the Finlandia Trophy in Espoo, Finland beginning Thursday, October 7.
Martinez will be one of three Filipinos competing in the fourth event of the 2021-22 Figure Skating Challenger Series.
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The 24-year-old has been training overseas for the past few years, working toward his return to the ice since the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
He had hoped compete for a slot in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics at the recently concluded Nebelhorn Trophy, but "on-and-off" injuries sidelined him for longer than expected.
National team newcomer Sofia Frank and Christopher Caluza will join Martinez in representing the Philippines in the tiff.
Frank competed in Nebelhorn where she fell short of booking a slot in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics.
Martinez was recently included in the short list to represent the Philippines in Nebelhorn along with Caluza and eventual representative Edrian Celestino.
He begged off, though, still due to his injuries.
Celestino, like Frank, also did not make the Olympics cut — ending the Philippines' hopes to send a figure skater to the Winter Games for the third edition in a row.
As Martinez makes his long-overdue return to competition, he hopes to clinch another medal for the Philippines in Finland.
Martinez has already won one medal — a silver — in the Challenger Series at the 2014 Warsaw Cup.