Tio caps ‘tough week’ with silver medal for PH

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO/International Olympic Committee

BUENOS AIRES—Over two months of training and acclimatizing in a different country have made Christian Tio badly longing for home.

The Filipino-Norwegian will certainly have great memories once he leaves this charming Argentinian capital after snaring a silver medal in men’s kiteboarding of the 2018 Youth Olympic Games.

READ: PH kiteboarding star Tio eyes gold in first Olympic stint

With the winds blowing in his favor, Tio placed second in the final race to jump from fourth overall to a sure silver together with Toni Vodisek of Slovenia after competing for nearly a week at the Club Nautico San Isidro here.

“It’s been a tough week and we really had light winds. I’m really happy to get the silver,” said the 17-year-old Tio after gifting the country its first medal in the ongoing sportsfest for the finest under-18 athletes on the planet.

Deury Corniel of the Dominican Republic was a cinch to seize the gold medal with his consistency in all six races prior to Sunday morning’s finale.

Corniel topped three races and was leading throughout the week where the kiteboarders encountered several canceled races due to light winds.

Tio, who ended up tied with Vodisek in the final race, trained for four weeks in Dominican Republic and spent another four weeks here to get his body well adjusted.

READ: Tio clinches lone Youth Olympic Games berth

“That did very well, because I don’t have any jetlag and I wasn’t really tired,’’ said Tio. “I have the energy and we did it. My mindset, really, was just to go for it and enjoy.”

“What’s next for me? I want to go home (in the Philippines),” added Tio, who will surely receive a cash incentive from the government upon his return to Manila late this week.

Over at the Parque Sarmiento archery range, Nicole Marie Tagle and Hendrik Oun of Estonia suffered a stinging defeat at the hands of New Zealand’s Rebecca Jones and Chihchun Tang of Chinese Taipei, 5-1, in the quarterfinals of the mixed international event.

“The crosswind has affected my game. But I’m still happy with the outcome after we beat the fourth-ranked team in the round of 16,” said Tagle, who is scheduled to face Alyssia Tromans-Ansell of Great Brittain in the women’s recurve individual round of 16 on Tuesday.

Winding up No. 13th after the rankings the other day, Tagle and Oun pulled off a surprise when they defeated the highly favored duo of Reza Shabani of Iran and Tromans-Ansell by a slim margin prior to the quarters.

In the golf mixed event, Yuka Saso and Carl Janno Corpus fired a five-over 75 for a share of joint 18th with South African and Belgium. Atthaya Thitikul and Vanchai Luangnitikul fired a two-under 68 to secure the top spot after two rounds.