After the success of the Filipino athletes in the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, capped off by the first gold medal of the country, another athlete is aiming to make the Philippines proud in the upcoming Winter Olympics to be held in Beijing. Filipino-American skier Asa Miller is the sole representative of the Philippines in this iteration of the Winter Olympics and he will compete in the men’s giant slalom and men’s slalom events.

Miller was introduced to the sport of skiing by his American father Kelly when he was just two years old. However, it was not until he was 16 that he became serious and focused full time on the sport. He debuted for the Philippines in the 2018 Winter Olympics held in Pyeongchang, South Korea where he finished 70th out of 110 competitors. By qualifying for the Pyeongchang games, Miller became the first Filipino skier in the Olympics since Michael Teruel competed in the 1992 Albertville Games in France and by appearing in the Beijing games in 2022, Miller became the first Filipino skier to appear in two Winter Olympic games.

That experience made qualifying for the Olympics this time around much easier according to the Portland, Oregon native. “The qualifying process for this time was much easier for myself, since I knew I had the ability to easily meet the same qualifications I did 4 years prior.”, he said.

Since his experience in the Pyeongchang, Miller dedicated more of his time to skiing to become as elite an athlete in his sport as possible, dropping all of his other sports, most notably baseball.

During this time of the Covid-19 pandemic, while many sports were hit hard by restrictions, Miller said that training for skiing did not face that many challenges as the sport is held outdoors and in the mountains. This allowed him to train non stop even amidst the global pandemic and he is ready to hit the slopes in Beijing.

“I feel like I’ve matured heavily and have fine tuned my abilities as well. Going into the competitions next week, I feel like I’m more suited to deal with the pressure of being at a world class event like this and am set to perform my best”, he said.

Miller is competing in a sport that is not well known in the Philippines, a tropical country that never experiences snow. Asked why he fell in love with the sport, he highlighted the immense pressure to perform and the individuality of the sport where the skier alone can control his fate and thus makes it an all or nothing sport according to Miller. He also highlighted the cutthroat system of judging the season performance of the skier.

“Few sports judge athletes based on their best two results in a given season, and I think it makes skiing special and highlights just how hard it is to do it well every day.”, Miller said.

Despite not getting much national attention from the Philippines, Miller is immensely proud to represent the country. “I’m very proud to represent the Philippines, despite it being an unorthodox sport for the country. It’s given me many different opportunities to meet people and spread Filipino pride and my story along with it. I hope to be the first of many more skiers to come.”, Miller said.

Miller, the son of an American father and a Filipino mother, hopes to make the country proud when he competes on February 13 for the giant slalom and February 16 for the slalom event.

His message to Filipino fans?

“Thank you to everyone who has shown support! I’m extremely proud to have held the flag in the opening ceremony and I hope to follow that up with a strong performance in the competitions next week!”, Miller said.