Michael Martinez on Olympics loss: I skated my very best

Despite failing to advance in the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea early this month, Filipino figure skater Michael Martinez has never been prouder of himself.

Speaking before fans and reporters during his homecoming in SM Mall of Asia on Thursday, Martinez said that he delivered his best performance despite having only two and a half weeks of preparation.

"I was really, really happy. My coach was very proud of me. I skated my very best," he said.

Martinez finished 28th out of 30 in the men's single skating short program. He only got the call on January 23 when Swedish skater Alexander Mojorov's national committee returned his spot. The games began February 9.

Martinez had missed the cut for the Olympics at a qualifier last year, and so didn't skate at all. In fact, he had gotten into bodybuilding and had to lose around 10 pounds and get his jumps back in two weeks. He said that usually it takes two to three months of preparations for skaters to get back into shape.

"It was very impossible for any skater to be able to do that but I was able to do it and deliver my best performance," he said.

He admitted that he was scared entering into the Olympics, and was despondent when he practiced with other Olympians because he could not achieve simple jumps.

"It was very, very scary...I was sad during my practices there. I get to skate with them and I get to see them doing the jumps. It was easy for them. In the back of my head, I know I can to those jumps easily, better, but I couldn't even do a simple triple jump in the practices," Martinez said.

"But I was able to make it happen. When I was able to land my jumps in the practices people actually clapped," he added.

While he said that he's considering competing in the Southeast Asian Games, the future remains unclear for Martinez.

Right now, he said, he wants to take a break.

"I'm going to take my break and just reset and take it from there. We never know. I might compete and I might not," he said. — LA, GMA News