Michael Christian Martinez

Michael Christian "Mikee" Martinez (born November 4, 1996) is a Filipino Olympic figure skater. He is the 2015 Asian Figure Skating 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 from a tropical country to qualify for the Olympics, was the only athlete to represent the Philippines at the 2014 Winter Olympics, and was one of only two to represent the Philippines at the 2018 Winter Olympics. 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. He also placed ninth in the free skate, falling on his triple Axel, under-rotating his triple toe in the triple Lutz-triple toe combination, and stepping out in his double Axel towards the end of the program. Martinez finished tenth overall.

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. Martinez competed in his first Worlds at the 2015 World Championships, finishing in 21st position.

2015–16 season: Asian Trophy title Martinez withdrew from several summer competitions due to ongoing therapy and rehabilitation for his spine. He also was unable to compete at the 2015 CS U.S. International Classic due to acute asthma.

2016–17 season At the 2017 Four Continents Championships, Martinez placed 14th in the short program, free skate and overall. At the 2017 Asian Winter Games, a multi-sport event held every four years, he placed 7th in the short program, 9th in the free skate, and 9th overall. At the 2017 World Championships, Martinez placed 24th in the short program and free skate, as well as overall.

2017–18 season : Pyeongchang Olympics Martinez repeats his 2018 Winter Olympic Games routine at the SM Mall of Asia ice skating rink. At the 2017 Southeast Asian Games, Martinez won silver behind Malaysia's Julian Yee. Sometime after the Nebelhorn Trophy competition, considering the end of his sponsorship, he decided to retire from figure skating to return to business law studies and be assistant in a Law Office, altogether with body building, bulking up to from his usual .

In January 2018, after Sweden relinquished its Olympic spot, it was transferred to the Philippines, allowing Martinez to compete in South Korea. He failed to advance to the free skate after not placing among the top 24.

Despite failing to advance, Tom Carrasco, the chef de mission of Philippine delegation to the Games remarked that Martinez did his best given the skater's "condition and circumstances" and the official relayed that Zagor described Martinez's short program as "not a bad performance". Though in September 2018, Martinez's break from the sport has been described as an indefinite leave with no time table on when he will resume skating. He also went on to become a coach and a social media influencer in the United States; he has been occasionally frequenting the country since 2010.

Martinez did not participate in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, with the Philippine Skating Union saying that he declined take part in the national qualifiers. However it was later reported that his non-participation was due to a miscommunication between Martinez and the sports federation.

2022: Brief return Martinez remarked that he has made mistakes in his life and vowed to return to competitive skating intending to qualify for the 2022 Winter Olympics. He began training with New Jersey–based Russian coach Nikolai Morozov. However amidst to the COVID-19 pandemic, Martinez has returned to the Philippines in June 2020 where his training was limited to outside the skating rink due to pandemic-related measures. His immediate goal is to qualify for the 2021 World Figure Skating Championships with his management team, Virtual Playground and the Philippine Skating Federation helping him secure sponsors.

The Philippine Skating Union (PhSU) is limited to one entry for each gender for the Nebelhorn Trophy, with Martinez having to contend against Christopher Caluza and Edrian Celestino for the berth in the federation's Olympic Qualifier Evaluation. However due to an injury, Martinez decided foregoing his bid to qualify for the Nebelhorn Trophy, consequentially for the Winter Olympics.

Coaching The PhSU offered Martinez a coaching job, after an exodus of its coaches due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Martinez was initially reluctant but accepted the offer. He is now coaching with SM Supermalls as of October 2022. He has coached before for around four years in the United States.

Martinez expressed willingness to return to competing but has find himself focusing on his coaching role. 2013–2014