The TV commentator said those words last Valentine’s night. He wasn’t talking about food, chocolates or red roses last Feb. 14. He was referring to our country’s new gem Michael Christian Martinez who performed, to our eyes, a near-perfect routine of figure-skating prowess.

Michael Martinez wasn’t supposed to be in Sochi during the XXII Olympic Games. He’s only 17. At this age, you’re a freshman on a college date.

Instead, he was on a date with destiny, becoming not only the first Filipino to join the most popular of sports during the Winter Games the figure-skating routine but also the first from Southeast Asia to join and the field’s youngest skater.

“Very, very impressive, indeed.”

He was. Starting last Thursday night during the Short Program, he jumped several feet high, curled his slim frame, and spun a few circles in the cold Russian air. He performed sit spins, upright spins, Biellmann spins, camel spins so many variations of spins that, had we done even one of those spirals, we’d have passed out and slept on ice.

At the end of that two-minute, 39-second Short Program performance where he danced to Romeo and Juliet’s A Time For Us,”Martinez bowed to the crowd and beamed his toothful smile. i’lI was so nervous,” said the Muntinlupa-based teenager. “This was such a big event.”

Absolutely. There won’t be another Winter Olympics until February 2018 in Pyeongchang, South Korea. That’s a wait of 48 months while skating for 159 seconds. But Martinez prevailed. He placed 19th (out of 30) last Thursday to become one of the top 24 to advance to the final round. His score of 64.81 was his personal best.

Seated at the booth while awaiting those impressive scores, he grabbed his jacket, flipped it over so that “PHILIPPINES” was proudly on display for the worldwide audience to see. Impressive. Very.

Same with his rendition two nights ago. Thanks to TV5’s live coverage, we got to see our lone Filipino pride. And it was perfectly-timed after the Valentine’s dinner.

At exactly 11:25 p.m. (PHL time) last Friday, Michael Martinez once again stepped inside the Iceberg Skating Palace. He wore an all-black attire with red and silver trimmings. This time, the dance was longer. Each contestant was given four minutes and 30 seconds.

And though the quadruple jump – a prerequisite among the men, if one wants to medal – was not part of his routine (remember, he’s only 17), he did plenty to impress the judges. He skated with flair and positive energy, often skating near the officials’ table to impress the judges.

The non-expert that I am, I only remember seeing one slight fall from Martinez during the entire routine; other than that small mishap, he did so many jumps and flips and spins that my head was spinning.

“He’s really a very talented spinner,” said the TV announcer.”He’s very flexible.” His best move? The famous “triple X.” Some say he’s the first Filipino in history to do the triple Axel jump in competition and he did it not just any competition, but the Olympics!

“Very, very impressive, indeed.”

In the end, the Philippines did not win the top prize. Surprisingly, Japan won their first gold in men’s figure skating when Yuzuru Hanyu, aided by a world-record score of 101.45 in the Short Program, upset three-time world champ Patrick Chan of Canada. Hanyu fell twice last Friday and thought he had lost the coveted medal only for Chan to fall three times.

Michael Martinez, in the end, placed 19th. His goal wasn’t to medal not yet but to enter the final round. He accomplished that

and more. Now, hundreds of other 7-year-olds will be flooding the skating rinks of SM to waltz jump, half flip, and bunny hop jump.

From SM Southmall to Sochi’s Olympic ice, what a jump.