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Edrian Celestino topped the Philippine Skating Union: Olympic Qualifier Evaluation event today, August 6.

This is the first of two events that will determine which figure skater will represent the Philippines in the Nebelhorn Trophy competition.

In an interview with a select media, the youngest competitor in the group said that he was surprised when he found out the results.

“If I'm honest, I'd say [I'm] a bit surprised. Considering the fact that I didn't have as much time for training as I would've wanted initially," the 23-year-old figure skater said.

“But then again, I think I'm pretty pleased.

“My coach and I know our routine that we first established over the course of maybe, three years of working together. So, it's something we definitely trusted and carried on into the virtual competition.

Edrian, who was born and raised in Canada, garnered the highest points during the first portion of the assessment at 139.90.

His fellow competitors, Sea Games medalist Christopher Caluza and two-time Winter Olympian Michael Martinez received 137.39 and 115.32 points, respectively.

Like any other athlete, Edrian encountered some challenges during his preparation for the virtual assessment due to the global pandemic.

“Being in a difficult time, training was a bit more scarce than the usual.”

When the virtual competition was announced, he shared that it was perfect timing because the conditions and circumstances in Canada were improving at that time. This allowed him to proceed to train for at least two to three hours three days in a week on ice.

“Then, once again, the time constraint. I would suppose I had like three weeks of preparation. It was pretty short," shared Edrian.

The pandemic also heavily affected the athlete's regular training and coaching time.

“I'd say in the past year, I couldn't skate for maybe five months straight and then there was a time where I had to stop again for a month.

“And then following that, I had to stop for two and a half months, and that's when I kind of came back more steadily for this virtual competition.

“And I was only skating maybe two hours at most and that's not even every single day, I'd say maybe three days a week compared to five,” shared Edrian.

A member of the press asked the 2018 Philippine National Champion about the most challenging aspect of performing his entry in the online competition.

“I think it was mentally preparing myself that I'm going to start competing again so soon, after such a long break.

“The mental aspect definitely made me nervous, I think, every single day, especially leading to that virtual competition.

“I think I coped pretty well but that probably would have been the most difficult part. Aside from the physical training, which is getting back into shape,” explained Edrian.

The two other Pinoy figure skater hopefuls are two-time Olympian Michael Martinez and three-time national champion Christopher Caluza.

The Nebelhorn Trophy, which will be held in Germany in September, is the event that will choose the figure skaters who will compete in the 2022 Winter Olympics.

Meanwhile, get to know more about our Philippine athletes at this year's Olympics in this gallery: