Michael Christian Martinez Is Returning to Competitive Figure Skating at 30

Filipino Winter Olympian Michael Christian Martinez is stepping back into competitive figure skating after nearly five years away.

The two-time Olympian announced on October 19, 2026 that he plans to compete at the 2026 Philippine National Figure Skating Championships this November, the same month he turns 30. Martinez said the decision came after years of focusing on coaching younger skaters and repeatedly being asked whether he would ever compete again. Rather than framing the comeback around another Olympic campaign, he says his immediate goal is simpler: train, compete, enjoy skating again, and see where the return takes him. The International Skating Union now lists him as having retired from competition in 2021 and begun his comeback in 2026.

Martinez remains one of the most significant figures in Philippine winter sports. He made his Winter Youth Olympic debut in Innsbruck in 2012, finishing seventh, before becoming the first Filipino figure skater to compete at the Olympic Winter Games at Sochi 2014, where he placed 19th overall. He returned for PyeongChang 2018, although his road there was unusual: Martinez initially missed the qualification cutoff at the 2017 Nebelhorn Trophy, then received a reallocated Olympic spot after Sweden returned Alexander Majorov’s quota place. With only a few weeks to prepare, Martinez ultimately competed in his second straight Winter Olympics and finished 28th in the short program.

For this comeback, Martinez has been open about approaching competition differently from his Olympic years. He has acknowledged the physical demands of returning at 30 and says he is keeping expectations measured while balancing his own training with coaching duties.
He has also said he hopes to return to international competition in 2027, but no specific international event has been formally announced yet. His first test will therefore be the Philippine Nationals in November, where the result should give a clearer picture of how far this new chapter may go. For now, Martinez is treating the comeback one competition at a time rather than promising a return to the Olympic stage.