Francis Ceccarelli bows out of the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympic Winter Games, unable to finish the slalom event. The Fil-Italian, along with giant slalom gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen, were among the 52 DNF in the rough course.
The 22-year-old Filipino-Italian Francis Ceccarelli bows out of his Winter Olympics debut, after he was unable to finish Run 1 of the slalom event on Monday, February 16.
He, along with recently-hailed giant slalom gold medalist Lucas Pinheiro Braathen of Brazil, were among the 52 skiers who crashed out in the rough, snowy course.
Only 44 of the 96 starters, including skiers representing nations such as Thailand, Benin, Hong Kong and Jamaica, completed their first runs.
"Francis is one of the 52 who was DNF, which includes some of the top contenders," the Philippine Ski and Snowboard Federation confirmed on social media.
Several top contenders suffered the same fate including France's Paco Rassat who straddled a gate and Austria's Manuel Feller. France's reigning Olympic champion Clement Noel got down but was 1.96 seconds behind in a tie for seventh place with Austria's Marco Schwarz.
Ceccarelli though did make a successful opening event, completing the giant slalom to finish in 54th place.
[ALSO READ: PH's Ceccarelli is 54th in giant slalom, Pinheiro Braathen makes Olympic history]
His compatriot Proulx, who finished 52nd in the women's giant slalom, will aim to finish in the slalom event on February 18.
[ALSO READ: PH's Proulx ends giant slalom at 52nd, Brignone completes Olympic golden double]
(With reports from Reuters)
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.