FILIPINO cross-country skier Avery Balbanida finished the race but couldn’t progress among the 30 fastest skiers in the next round of the men’s sprint freestyle event of the fourth Winter Youth Olympic Games yesterday morning at the Alpensia Biathlon Centre in Gangwon, South Korea.
Balbanida, 16, kept his head up high after finishing 69th in the qualification stage with a time of 3:44.34 time, 40.36 behind qualification topnotcher Elias Eischer of Austria (3:03.98).
“It was more of international-level skiing against the greatest skiers of my age so I think it was a pretty good performance,” Balbanida said. “I think I handled skiing very well so this will help me in my future competitions.”
The event was dominated by gold winner Italian Federico Pozzi, who clocked three minutes and 16.27 seconds, while German Jakob Elias Moch timed 3:16.60 for the silver and American Tabor Greenberg bagged the bronze in 3:17.33.
Australian Canada-based coach Allison McAdler praised Balbanida’s perseverance on the course that featured 40 meters of climbing, saying her student had a pretty good performance as he didn’t falter and kept his poise down the stretch.
“He gave everything and didn’t falter, looked strong coming out from the start, and I’m proud of him,” McAdler said. “He had still a good finish overall.”
Balbanida, who was watched by parents Voltaire and Rosalia, McAdler and Philippine Snow and Ski Sports Federation President Jezreel Apelar, will be skiing on Tuesday in the 7.5 kilometers classic event – his second and last competition.
