Supporters of Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez are appealing for donations and sponsorships for the Philippines’ 2022 Winter Olympics bet.
The new campaign is a follow-up to Martinez’s calls for donations through GoFundMe and Gcash on April 11.
In his post then, Martinez said his team organized the donation drive to finance his training in Russia.
“My team and I have organized a fundraising campaign called MICHAEL MARTINEZ – Road to 2022 Winter Olympics to help out with some of the training expenses for the reason that I currently don’t have sponsors yet,” Martinez said.
“So I am humbly reaching out to you to join me on my journey towards the 2022 Winter Olympics and bring recognition once again to the Philippines,” he continued.
This time, supporters of Martinez made the initiative to ask for more donations on his behalf. They re-posted the links to his team’s donation campaign on social media.
The renewed appeal came after the historic win of Hidilyn Diaz, the country’s first gold Olympic medalist.
Diaz also sought online financial support and sponsorships for her training back then.
READ: Hidilyn Diaz wins first Olympic gold for Philippines
“We have another aspiring Olympian. Please share and donate when you can!” one user said.
“Just like her, Michael Martinez who is known figure skater of our country is now in need of financial help for his training and other expenses for the upcoming Winter Olympics Qualifying event on September 2021,” the user wrote.
So far, according to the GoFundMe website, they managed to raise $12,000 of the target $50,000. The petition read:
“Michael’s determination and dedication to the sport are truly admiring and are stronger than ever before. He never wavers despite the risks of the virus Covid19. But because of [the] COVID-19 health crisis, it has been difficult to find sponsors to help him in his journey…
“Figure skating is a very expensive sport. We are spending around 16,000 USD per month for his training (coach fees for the new program, technical, harness, ice dance, off-ice, gym, equipment, ice time fees, doctor, chiropractor and massage therapist fees, athletic training supplies, medication, accommodation, food, supplements, transportation and more).”
As of writing, the donation channels are still open.
In an interview with Philstar.com, Martinez expressed his determination for the Winter Games.
“I’m pretty confident because of the time that we have,” Martinez said.
“We have enough time to actually prepare for it, especially now that I’m seeing a lot of improvements,” he added.