First PH Winter Olympian roots for Asa Miller – Tempo – The Nation’s Fastest Growing Newspaper

YANQING, China — The primary Filipino ­  and extra considerably the primary from a tropical nation ­  to compete within the Winter Olympics despatched a message of fine luck to Asa Miller, who’s competing in big slalom on Sunday on the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics.

Ben Nanasca, who together with cousin Juan Cipriano, competed in alpine snowboarding within the Sapporo 1972 Video games, setting the tone for Filipinos, Southeast Asians and athletes from tropical international locations to purpose for the Winter Video games.

Nanasca, now 68, resides in Auckland, New Zealand, and though he hasn’t adopted the Winter Olympics as vividly as when he was younger, he nonetheless engages in sports activities and nonetheless skis as a type of recreation.

“Oh, is it his second Winter Olympics? I don’t actually comply with [anymore] and I’m not conscious of anybody now within the Philippines concerning the Winter Olympics,” he stated. “However I’ll problem Asa Miller to beat [or replace] my report, I hope he’ll.”  Nanasca’s 42^nd place end within the males’s big slalom in Sapporo stands because the spot to beat for the 21-year-old Miller.

After Nanasca and Cipriano, Michael Teruel positioned 71^st in big slalom and 49^th in slalom in Albertville 1992m whereas Miller was 17 when he settled for seventieth amongst 110 skiers in Pyeongchang.

Nanasca googled Miller and was impressed with what he noticed.

“I’ve watched some YouTube clips of Asa. He’s in good kind and snowboarding properly. He’s educated laborious and may be very keen about his sport,” stated Nanasca, who teaches younger college students on the Youthtown Faculty in Auckland on out of doors actions similar to tenting, kayaking, crusing and snowboarding. “And he’s been there earlier than in order that’s a bonus.”

He admitted that it might laborious to check his Olympic marketing campaign to Miller’s.

“I can see the fashion of snowboarding has modified. Wider skis now in comparison with the lengthy and slender ones within the 70’s. So laborious to check. However there’s no cause why he gained’t beat my report,” he stated. “I’m rooting for him and ‘Go Group Philippines! I want him the easiest,” Nanasca stated. 

Nanasca, his spouse Florengel, who hails from Dumaguete Metropolis and daughters Karen and Alana go to their family in Paco, Manila, no less than twice a 12 months in the course of the pre-pandemic.