Three athletes will represent the country in the upcoming 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games slated Jan. 19 to Feb. 1 in Gangwon, South Korea.

The small Philippine squad will be composed of short track speed skater Peter Groseclose, cross-country skier Avery Balbanida and freestyle skier Laetaz Amihan Rabe.

The Fil-American Groseclose, 16, became the first Filipino qualifier to the Games after making the cut in the 2023 International Skating Union (ISU) Junior World Short Track Speed Skating Championships in Dresden, Germany in February last year.

Sixteen-year-old Balbanida and 14-year-old Rabe, meanwhile, clinched quota slots in their respective events.

Groseclose will be competing in the 500-meter, 1000m and 1,500m events while Balbanida will vie in the 7.5-kilometer classical and sprint freestyle. Rabe, for her part, will see action in the girls’ big air and slopestyle events.

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Bambol Tolentino lauded the efforts of the three athletes to make it to the Games.

“The Philippines may be a tropical country, the Olympic spirit knows no boundaries. It transcends climates, uniting us in the pursuit of excellence and the celebration of human potential,” Tolentino said in a social media post Thursday, Jan. 4.

“Our athletes are testaments to this Olympic spirit. They have defied limitations and embraced the challenge of competing in winter sports, demonstrating the Filipino determination,” he added.

This would be the third time that the country is sending athletes to the Winter Youth Olympic Games. In the 2020 edition held in Lausanne, Switzerland, alpine skier Ana Noelle Wahleithner and short track speed skater Julian Macaraeg competed for the country.

Wahleithner finished 36^th in giant slalom and 33^rd in slalom, while Macaraeg made it to the quarterfinals in the 500m.

The first time the country participated in the Games was in 2012 with figure skater Michael Martinez finishing seventh in figure skating and Fil-Eritrean Abel Tesfamariam finishing 37^th in giant slalom alpine skiing.