By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

LATER this year 17-year-old Boracay kiteboarder Christian Tio will be representing the Philippines at the Youth Olympic Games III after emerging victorious at the Asian qualifiers early this month in Thailand.

Tio will be the lone representative of the Philippines in kiteboarding to the Games to be held in October in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and it is something the young athlete is looking forward to as he gets to showcase his skills for flag and country as well as his hometown of Boracay, which is in the news of late.

“Competing in Argentina is amazing [as I get] to represent my country, my home in Boracay. I do this a lot, traveling around the world but the Youth Olympics is more special,” Tio shared to BusinessWorld recently after topping the first-ever Kitesurfing Youth Olympic Qualifiers Asia at Pranburi from March 13 to 18.

He competed at the Boys Asia division and finished with 26 points after 20 elimination rounds to wind up on top and book his place in the Youth Olympics.

In winning his event, Tio, who is supported by energy drink Red Bull, beat out Haoran Zhang of China and Thai Sarun Rupchorn, who wound up second and third, respectively, on the podium.

Tio said he felt at ease during the competition which greatly helped in his performance.

“I mostly do freestyle which is different from racing, but I have done this before and I just needed a few days to warm up to get better and better results during the week,” he said of the mind-set he had during the competition.

BORACAY ISSUE
Turning to the Boracay issue, the Filipino-Norwegian kiteboarding ace, the son of kiteboarders Chris Mohn and Liezl Tio, admitted that he has not been able to follow the latest developments on it as he has been busy training but shared that he hopes all will be settled soon and that he is proud to represent it in every competition he engages in.

“Boracay is my home and I’m proud to represent my island,” said Tio.

Boracay has been in the news of late over long-term environmental concerns and authorities are mulling its temporary closure to tourists to give time to rehabilitate it.

As to kiteboarding as a sport, Tio said he hopes more Filipinos get to take it up as it is something that is in synch with the Philippines as a country.

“We have a lot of nice beaches and a lot of wind, there is a lot of potential for the sport, we just need more riders,” he said.

“The kiteboarding scene here right now is still quite small but it’s quickly growing. The more others can come and support, the more the talent develops,” he added, referring to sponsors like Red Bull which have been throwing their support behind the sport.

Tio began his professional career at the age of 14. When he was 10 years old, he competed at the Kiteboard Tour Asia’s Asia championship tour where he went against older and more experienced kitesurfers.

He also competed at the Junior Kitesurfing World Championships in 2014 and 2015, taking home second place.

The 2018 Summer Youth Olympic Games, from Oct. 6 to 18, will showcase over 3,500 young athletes who will represent over 200 countries around the world. Kitesurfing will be among a number of sports to make their debut as part of the Olympic program. Other debuting sports include Freestyle BMX, futsal, sports climbing, karate, and breakdancing.

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