Fresh from bagging a silver medal in the Youth Olympic Games (YOG), Christian Tio is preaching the gospel of kiteboarding to young local athletes.

Tio, a half-Norwegian born and raised in the island of Boracay, said kiteboarding perfectly suits the Filipinos since the country has more than 7,000 islands.

“Hopefully, more Filipinos will enter the sport,” said Tio during a press briefing hosted by the Philippine Sports Commission.

“I hope it gets much better because we have many islands.”

Kiteboarding runs in Tio’s veins.

Her mother, Leizle Mohn, is also a kiteboarder who taught her the sport when he was seven years old.

Mohn was present as sports commissioners Arnold Agustin and Celia Kiram as well as YOG chief of mission Jonne Go commended him for a job well done in the world’s most prestigious age-group event in Buenos Aires recently.

Deury Corniel of Dominican Republic grabbed the gold medal while Toni Vodisek of Slovenia also emerged with a silver medal after forging a tie with Tio.

“They trained very well. They are all good,” said Tio, adding that he did not expect a silver finish due to harsh weather conditions.

But with much momentum on his side, the 17-year-old kiteboarder is setting his eyes on a bigger prize in the Paris Olympics in 2024.

“I got six more years to prepare and get better every day.”

Tio is set to receive a total of P2.5 million cash incentives as stated in the Republic Act 10699 when they make their courtesy call at Malacañang on 6 November together with para athletes, who emerged victorious in the recent Asian Para Games.