The streak for Filipino male figure skaters in the Winter Olympics ended for now.
Edrian Celestino missed a third straight berth into the quadrennial meet after an 18th place finish in the 2021 CS Nebelhorn Trophy off a respectable 176.10-point total at the free skate, Saturday (Manila Time) at the Eissportzentrum in Oberstdorf, Germany.
Only seven skaters who have not yet qualified will get a berth for their NOC for the Beijing Games next year.
Celestino amassed 111.78 points, a long-shot from his personal best of 129,73 in the said segment of the competition. Most of the points dropped came from technical scores where he got 47.86.
The Fil-Canadian standout started his program strong with a huge triple lutz-triple toe combo, then needed to save the triple salchow end of his triple jump combo that started with a double axel and an euler.
Despite scattering his other jumps into the last part of his routine, thus earning him credits, Celestino bungled on a triple loop, before settling for a double flip and single axel in his next two jumps.
Nonetheless, his performance scores, particularly his skating skills and his interpretation of his music pulled his scores up.
Vincent Zhou picked up from where he left off on Thursday to win the title with 284.23 total points, earning the United States their third berth into the Beijing Games.
Adam Siao Him Fa and Mark Kondratiuk took home the silver and bronze medals with 243.78 and 241.06 points, respectively. In this regard, France booked its second spot and the Russian Olympic Committee (or simply ROC in the Games) gained their third skater flying into the Chinese capital.
South Korea, Azerbaijan, Australia, and Canada are the other four countries that gained qualifications. Turkey, Armenia, and Great Britain, are the countries next in line should any of the four decline their berths into the Olympics.
In the previous Olympics, Michael Christian Martinez got his second straight appearance after Sweden returned its berth,
As of the moment, the Philippines has gained one spot in the Olympics in the sport of alpine skiing.
