Milan: Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham 'Bambol' Tolentino said he believes that nothing is impossible as the Philippines fields two athletes to the 25th Winter Olympics in Milan and Cortina in Italy.

According to Philippines News Agency, Tolentino said the country winning three gold medals in the past two stagings of the Summer Olympics only means that Filipino athletes can make it anywhere. "We have proven that it can be done," he said in a news release Thursday. He flew to Italy on Wednesday to join the Philippine delegation.

The Winter Olympics is set to kick off Thursday to officially welcome 2,871 athletes from 92 nations. Alpine skiers Francis Ceccarelli, 22, and Tallulah Proulx, 17, are carrying the load for the Philippines, which first competed in the Winter Olympics in 1972 in Sapporo, Japan, also with two athletes.

The Philippines has yet to win a medal in the Winter Olympics but struck in the Asian Winter Games with a gold medal in men's curling in Harbin, China last year. That victorious team just fell short of qualifying for this year's Winter Olympics.

Tolentino said golden moments for the country in the 2020 and 2024 Summer Games in Tokyo and Paris, courtesy of weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz Naranjo and gymnast Carlos Yulo, plus the full support of the Philippine Sports Commission under chairman Patrick Gregorio, should provide the needed push for the campaign in Milan and Cortina. "The Winter Olympics are as extremely tough as the Summer Olympics. But we've done it before (Summer Olympics)," he said.

Ceccarelli and Proulx will plunge into action in the men's and women's alpine skiing (giant slalom and slalom) on Feb. 14 and 15, respectively. "As long as we believe, our athletes can and will excel," Gregorio said.