Grace Poe: Michael Martinez an inspiration to the Filipino Youth

Sen. Grace Poe has filed a resolution commending Filipino figure skater Michael Christian Martinez for making history as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to qualify in the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.

In her Senate Resolution No. 517, Poe hailed Martinez for "raising the Philippine flag in the global sporting event with courage and bringing honor to a tropical nation in a sport hardly known to most Filipinos."

Seventeen-year old Martinez had a breakthrough 19th overall finish at the recently concluded Winter Olympics. The young athlete, who began skating in 2005 in the ice rinks of a mall in Metro Manila, is now hailed in the skating world as the "Future Star."

"Michael Christian Martinez is a Filipino Youth worth emulating. He is an inspiration not just for our young people but for every Filipino. His struggles did not undermine his determination to compete in the Winter Olympics," Poe said.

The Filipino skater qualified for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics when he finished 7th overall in the men's singles in the 2013 Nebelhorn Trophy held in Oberstdorf, Germany on September 26-28 last year.