Asa Miller secures 2022 Winter Olympics berth

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 21) – Asa Miller will be the sole Filipino athlete in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics after meeting the qualification threshold for the slalom and giant slalom events.

The 21-year-old alpine skier made the announcement Tuesday on his personal Instagram account.

“I’m extremely excited to announce that I’ll be making my second Olympic appearance in Beijing 2022! Big thank you to everyone who’s helped me on my skiing journey so far,” said Miller.

Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation president Jim Palomar Apelar also confirmed Miller’s qualification in the quadrennial sporting competition from Feb. 4 to 20 next year.

Apelar explained that Miller secured his second straight Winter Olympics berth after he met the qualifying score of 160 points or lower for each of the two events.

The Portland-born Miller earned 68.56 points in slalom and 63.83 points in giant slalom in the tournaments he joined for his pre-Olympic qualification process.

“Alpine has a point system. The lower your points the better,” Apelar told CNN Philippines on Tuesday.

Apelar added the world governing body International Ski Federation will finalize the list of athletes in Beijing on Jan. 15, but the Philippines has been granted one quota slot in the two events which assured Miller’s participation.

Miller also represented the Philippines in the 2018 Winter Olympics, where he ranked 70th out of 110 competitors in the giant slalom event.

He is also expected to be the country’s flag bearer in the Beijing Winter Olympics opening ceremony on Feb. 4.