A potential medalist in the 2024 Olympics in Paris has made the country proud in the prestigious IWWF World Wakeboarding Championships held recently in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Ranged against the top wakeboarders in the world, Raphael Trinidad came within 2.67 points of pocketing the gold medal in the men’s category of the meet against three-time world champ Lior Sofel of Israel.
Still, it was a proud moment for the 17-year-old Cebuano after the silver-medal performance shook off a fifth-place finish at the junior men’s under-19 of the same tournament.
“This is for the country. It really feels good to be standing there on the medal podium,” said Trinidad, the first Filipino to win a medal in the wakeboarding world championships.
The feat has established Trinidad as a top gold-medal contender in the 30th Southeast Asian Games later this year, where wakeboarding is among the 56 approved sports.
It also puts him on the radar for the country’s golden quest in the Olympics, potentially in the 2024 Paris Games.
Trinidad, who rides for Team Republ1c, gained his confidence on the world stage after a promising stint in the Philippine Cable Wake Nationals last month at the Deca Wake Cable Park in Clark, Pampanga, where he pulled off the first-ever double half cab roll in the PH wakeboarding scene.