Curling: Philippines on track to realise Winter Olympic dream at Milano Cortina 2026
The Philippine men took an important step towards their Olympic curling goal after winning the Pan Continental Curling Championship 2024 B-Division event.
Curling
Could curling have its own ‘Cool Runnings’ moment?
Four curlers from the Philippines are banking on it as they mount an unlikely bid to compete at the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026.
The Philippines has in the past had representation at the Winter Games with one athlete competing in alpine skiing at Beijing 2022, but the Asian archipelago nation, renowned for its tropical climate, has never once succeeded in securing a qualification quota for a team event.
Enrico Pfister, Marco Pfister, Christian Haller, and Alan Frei, four Filipino-Swiss curlers, are hoping to change that with the curling quartet united around participation at the event as their primary target.
“Our goal is to compete for the Philippines in the Winter Olympics 2026 in Milan, Cortina. That's our main goal,” Frei told the Manila Bulletin in an interview.
The men's team has certainly wasted little time taking steps toward their dream, which they have dubbed a ‘long shot’, with Frei primarily the catalyst for the group’s rise.
The team’s Lead, Frei only began curling at the start of 2023 after an inspired weight loss journey led him to the sport.
Seeking out motivation to trim down, the Switzerland-based businessman decided to aim for the Olympics. Recognising that representing the European nation at either the Summer or Winter Games was likely out of his reach, Frei turned to his Filipino heritage.
Ruling out any summer sports, a lawyer suggested Frei try a winter one, beginning with cross-country skiing.
“I started skiing and shared my Olympic ambitions with everyone. Only to find out that I was a terrible skier,” Frei wrote in a blog detailing his journey.
Haller, a junior world curling medallist for Switzerland eventually caught wind of Frei’s ambition and reached out to the aspiring athlete, sharing that he, Enrico, and March had a WhatsApp group with the idea of making a Philippine Curling team.
The Pfister brothers, like Haller, already had years of international curling experience under their belts for Team Switzerland competing in multiple World Championships between them. The conversation sparked Frei into action and just three short months later the team met together for the first time to practice.
With chemistry established, the group then had to go through a series of formal procedures, including registering with Curling Winter Sports Association of the Philippines with the World Curling Federation. By October 2023, the group arrived at their first major international tournament: the Pan Continental Championships (PCCC) in Kelowna, Canada.
Despite coming up against stiff competition, the Filipinos stood tall; making it to the final where they eventually lost 4-8 to the People’s Republic of China.
Persistence pays off for Philippines curlers
While the loss meant promotion to the A-Division was on hold, it was still an almighty start by the newcomers.
Though the Winter Olympics are still some distance on the horizon, the road to qualification is already well underway for curlers, including Team Philippines.
Crucially, the group has now taken a significant step to ensuring they remain in with the chance of securing a quota.
Returning to the PCCC a year after their debut, the Curling Pilipinas were at a critical junction. The next stage of qualifying required them to be in the A-Division, meaning promotion out of the B-Division this past week was a non-negotiable.
Powered by their hunger to go where no Filipino team has gone before, the quartet duly marched through the tournament, defeating Kazakhstan in the final to finish first with an impeccable record.
The victory means they have secured themselves a place in the Pre-Olympic Qualifying Tournament scheduled to take place next year, where they will need to finish in the top three to advance to the next qualifying event to follow.
Olympic qualification is a long road but based on their current trajectory Team Philippines will be feeling good about their progress.
There is also still time for improvement. The team is currently planning to make an appearance at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, PR China in early 2025, with a potential stop at the Baden Masters in Switzerland later on in the year also on the cards.
Theirs is an inspiring story and one the curling world and beyond will be watching closely.
- As National Olympic Committees have the exclusive authority for the representation of their respective countries at the Olympic Games, athletes' participation at the Milano Cortina Games depends on their NOC selecting them to represent their delegation at Milano Cortina 2026.