Michael Martinez mentors aspiring Olympians in skating workshop

Young figure skaters had the rare chance to learn the tricks of the trade from the country's only skating Olympian, Michael Martinez.

The three-day Michael Martinez Skating Camp started on Wednesday at the SM Mall of Asia Skating Rink, attracting more than a dozen aspiring competitors.

Young skaters do off-ice exercises on the first day of the Michael Martinez Skating Camp at SM Mall of Asia pic.twitter.com/Of1rRsetiE

— Jessica Bartolome (@jacbartolome) June 15, 2016

The lessons focused on strength training, which Martinez said will help the skaters to handle jumps and pushes on the ice.

But Martinez noted that his students are already skilled skaters with dreams to compete in the Olympics someday.

"They are really talented. 'Yung ibang skaters dito are really good on the ice na," he told reporters.

Michael Martinez leads ice skating exercises during the first day of his skating camp pic.twitter.com/sBdoLy5Q0K

— Jessica Bartolome (@jacbartolome) June 15, 2016

The 19-year-old figure skater said that he hopes his lessons would encourage them to continue pursuing the sport, he added.

"I wanted to help and impart my knowledge...give them knowledge to continue skating," Martinez said.

Despite the limited training facilities, Martinez is optimistic that more Filipino skaters will compete in the international scale.

He said that his success in the 2014 Winter Olympics had inspired many to learn and train to be a figure skater.

"When I competed in the Olympics, the more they got motivated to skate hard and train harder and nag-produce pa ng figure skaters in the Philippines," Martinez said.

—KG, GMA News