Meet Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx, the alpine skiiers representing the Philippines in the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
Team Philippines is sending two athletes, Francis Ceccarelli and Tallulah Proulx, to the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games in Italy.
They will both serve as flagbearers in the opening ceremony (airing February 7, 3:00 a.m., Philippine time), and will compete in alpine skiing—particularly in the giant slalom and slalom events.
Get to know more about them here.
Francis Ceccarelli
The 22-year-old alpine skier became the first Filipino to qualify for 2026 Milano Cortina.
He is the fifth Filipino alpine skier to reach the Winter Olympics after Asa Miller (2018 Pyeongchang, 2022 Beijing), Michael Teruel (1992 Albertville), Ben Nanasca and Juan Cipriano (1972 Sapporo).
This will be Ceccarelli's Olympics debut, and is in a rare situation of competing in his home country while competing for another home nation.
He was born in Quezon City in the Philippines and adopted by Italian parents. They moved to Italy when he was eight years old.
"Since I started skiing, my Filipino identity has always been with me," Ceccarelli told Olympics.com.
"It represents where I was born and where I'm from. It was a goal for me to ski for the Philippines, because it is not every day that we have a Filipino athlete skiing at international level."
Ceccarelli is an Olympic Solidarity athlete, which means he received scholarship for training, and earned his Winter Olympics spot via quota.
He competed in the 2025 Asian Winter Games for the Philippines, but was disqualified in the slalom event after he went out of the slalom line.
Tallulah Proulx
The 17-year-old Tallulah Proulx gets the distinction of being the first Filipina to compete in the Winter Olympics. She is also the youngest member of Team Philippines to do so.
The Utah-based athlete joins Ceccarelli as the flagbearers of Team Philippines in the opening ceremony.
Her biggest ties to the country came from her grandmother, who passed away.
"She really was my biggest inspiration, especially with wanting to go for this and wanting to represent the Philippines," Tallulah told CNN.
Proulx also competed in the 2025 Asian Winter Games, ranking 16th overall in women's slalom.
"I want to show the whole world that Filipinas can do it," she added. "I'm super excited and proud to be able to represent such an important part of my identity."
The 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics will run from February 7 to 23.
The opening ceremonies will be aired February 7, 3:00 a.m. via the Pilipinas Live. A catchup telecast will be aired 9:00 p.m. on One Sports.
The giant slalom and slalom events will run from February 14 to 18.
Katrina Alba is a sports journalist and producer, notably with SportsCenter Philippines before taking on her current role at One Sports.
She primarily writes about basketball and volleyball, with experience covering the SEA Games, Para Games, Asian Games, FIBA World Cup, and FIVB World Cup.
Outside of work, her hobbies include running, swimming, pickleball, yoga, arnis, and krav maga.