Soar High, Reach the Sky

At the age of 17, Christian Tio, a kite boarder, make every Filipino be proud of him by winning a silver
medal during the Youth Olympic Games last October 6 – 18, 2018. He shared the second position to Toni
Vodisek of Slovenia, while Cameron Maramenides of USA stayed at the top. Let us all know the obstacles
that Tio passed to win the title.

Christian Tio is a child of kiteboarders, a Norwegian father and a Filipino mother, which is the reason
why Tio also enters the sport. He started playing when he was seven years old. With the help of he’s
parents he became attracted to these sports.

“At first I didn’t like it because it was just a kite but once I got into the water, it started getting more fun,
that’s when I liked it,” Tio said to –PHILSTAR.

At the age of 10, Tio took all his knowledge, kites, and board from his hometown, Bulabog, Boracay, to
the new island of Pranburi, Thailand to join his first professional competes at the Kiteboard Tour Asia
(KTA).

He competed to the riders at least twice of he’s age. After finishing the competition, Tio found his name
at the bottom line. The results didn’t bring Tio to disappointment but instead lead him into
encouragement.

As he got back to his hometown, Tio said, “I pushed myself even more. Seeing all those people riding
motivated me to do better.”

After the KTA, he always practices at the big waves of Boracay to prove to his self that he can do better.
With the help of Khristopher Ken Nacor, who owns and operates the Boracay-based Freestyle Academy
Kite surfing School, and the support of his parents, Tio flew to high to and claimed a placed at some
national and international competition.

He won the Championships in both ICTSI Philippine Kite Boarding Tour and Boracay International Fun
Board Cup. He also won the silver medal in the Freestyle category at the Junior Kite Surfing World
Championships in 2014 and 2015 consecutively.

Tio also competed at the Kiteboarding Youth Cup competing in the U19 (under19) category and reached
the third place at the age of 15.

After winning a spot of all those competition, spending almost half of his life riding, and being supported
by his parents and Ken Nacor, Tio still thinks that his best and worst judgment was still been himself.

As of now, Tio is working on improving all the tricks that he has. He is aiming a new personal record
greater than the five- meter jumps he currently performed.

As each and every new kiting season gets nearer, Tio promises, “I’ll go bigger. More twists, more flips.”

Tio’s advice to those who wants to be like him is, “Do the best you can.”

REFERENCES:
https://www.philstar.com/sports/2018/03/21/1798864/christian-tio-proud-donning-philippine-colors-youth-
olympic-games#k6alEr4tgAWBMBDs.99
https://www.rappler.com/sports/specials/olympics/214322-kiteboarding-christian-tio-philippines-first-2018-youth-
olympic-games-medal
https://www.redbull.com/int-en/athlete/christian-tio
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Tio
https://sports.inquirer.net/323405/breaking-2018-youth-olympic-games-philippines-christian-tio-wins-
silver-medal-in-kiteboarding