THE Philippine Skating Union is going the extra mile in pursuing the naturalization of Isabella Gamez’s Russian figure skating partner, Alexander Korovin, who is keen on representing the Philippines in future international competitions.
“We are getting the help of Rep. Aniela Tolentino, who has filed a resolution for Korovin’s naturalization in Congress, and we will be getting also the assistance from Isabela Rep. Mike Dy,” a PSU official said in a recent interview.
Tolentino is the daughter of Philippine Olympic Committee president and Tagaytay Mayor Bambol Tolentino and the niece of kickboxing chief Sen. Francis Tolentino, the father of the ROTC Games; while Dy is the chairman of the House Sports Committee.
A gold medalist in the 2019 Winter University Games in Krasnoyarsk, Russia, Korovin, 29, has been a partner of Gamez, 24, since 2021, achieving a milestone together in just their second partnership, capturing the silver medal in the Trophee Metropole Cote d’Azur meet in Nice, France in October last year.
They were the first Philippine and Southeast Asian pair to see action in the world figure skating championships last March in Saitama, Japan after meeting the technical standards in the Challenge Cup in Tilburg, Netherlands the previous month.
They finished 18th overall among 20 entries at the worlds with a score of 147.07 points, with 53.29 in the short program and 93.78 points in the free skate, respectively.
Gamez, the niece of cage legend and former Sen. Freddie Webb, said she and Korovin got to know each other better since they began their partnership two years ago.
“We are able to complement each other now that we have been performing longer as a pair,” said Gamez, adding they have moved to a new training location at the Montclair State University Ice Arena in Little Falls, New Jersey.
They will be competing in an international meet in Zagreb, Croatia in December and then will see action in the world figure skating championships in Montreal, Canada in March next year.
Gamez and Korovin said they hope to qualify and become the first Philippine pair to compete in the 2026 Winter Olympic Games in Milan, Italy.
