GANGWON, South Korea — Peter Joseph Groseclose suffered an injury but still finished fifth in the Final A of the men’s 500-meter event of the 4th Winter Youth Olympic Games here.
The Filipino-American Groseclose, 16, was running third from the first until the middle of the last lap of the five-lap race to settle for fifth out of 36 racers.
Sean Shuai of the United States won the gold medal while Zang Zinshie of China and Dominik Major of China and Hungary settled for silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Prior to that, Groseclose topped all all his races to punch a ticket to the Final A of this prestigious tournament.
Groseclose, however, was rushed to the nearest hospital after slipping in the middle of the race that led to a cut on his left foot.
Still, his fifth-place finish is the country’s best in its participation in the Winter Youth Olympics, surpassing the seventh-place finish tallied by figure skater Michael Martinez in the inuagural staging in 2012.
Meanwhile, Laetaz Amihan Rabe has adopted to the slopes of the Welli Hilli Park Ski Resort in Hoengseong and is ready for action in women’s slopestyle of free skiing.
She’s the second of three Filipinos who qualified here with Groseclose.
“I felt nervous but since I already arrived here (Friday), I started to feel calm now as I see the other athletes and they seem quite nice and relax,” said Rabe, the country’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony last Friday.
“I have already seen park and it’s not bad as I thought.”
Rabe is a 14-year-old daughter of Ric from Cotabato City and Aileen from Malolos who are now residing in Switzerland.
She suffered minor bruises in her jawline after crash while training Monday.
“It’s no big deal,” said Rabe, who will also compete in the big air on Sunday.
“I’m so honored and humbled to represent the Philippines while facing my biggest challenge at hand,” said Rabe, who met Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino and secretary general Wharton Chan during the opening ceremony.
“He’s very friendly,” she said of Tolentino.
“I’m thankful and proud that I finally met him.”
Rabe’s coached by her dad Ric, who introduced her to skiing when she was only two years old. She was named to the 2023 Geneva Snow Sports Athletes and won her first race in the Glacier 3000 in 2019 and Grimentz a year later in Switzerland.
