Inspired by Hidilyn, PH’s Winter Olympic bet Asa Miller vows better showing in Beijing

Alpine skier Asa Bisquera Miller of the Philippines. –ASA MILLER INSTAGRAM

MANILA, Philippines—Hidilyn Diaz’s golden lift in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was, arguably, the greatest sporting feat for the Philippines and practically everyone who saw it got a fit of inspiration.

One of the people who witnessed Diaz’s gold medal campaign was alpine skier Asa Miller.

The Philippines’ lone representative in the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics admits that watching Diaz lift a total of 224 kilograms in the Summer Games gave him a rush to put on a better showing come his time in China.

“Watching Hidilyn Diaz taking her first gold was so inspirational,” said Miller in a virtual press conference.

Miller, though, admitted that he doesn’t have the same expectations as Diaz but he’s eager to perform better in his two alpine skiing events—slalom and giant slalom.

Diaz has been in four Olympics and got her first medal, a silver, in the 2016 Games in Rio, before she reached the pinnacle in Japan.

“I don’t have the same expectations for myself in the competition. I definitely want to show my improvement and improve my placement in the upcoming Games compared to how I did in 2018. It’s a huge inspiration and I’m super happy about that,” said Miller.

The Oregon native, whose mother Polly is from Sta. Cruz in Manila, finished 70th in the men’s giant slalom in the 2018 PyeongChang Games, 31.91 seconds behind gold medal winner Marcel Hirscher of Austria.

“I don’t have any placement expectations. I do expect myself to improve my placement from the last Winter Games,” said Miller who contracted COVID-19 during the holidays.

Miller said he fell sick for a couple of days but his training wasn’t affected as he was already taking a break for Christmas.

“It was over Christmas so I wasn’t going to be training anyways,” said Miller.