30 September 2025
Shooting for the moon: How curling has given Philippines an Olympic dream
Swiss-born Alan Frei sold his company and found himself in the enviable position of having so much money and no clue what to spend it on. Out of shape and a dreamer with a healthy dose of necessary delusion, Frei knew what he would do next – become an Olympian. While some scoffed at the idea, his Olympic dream still remains a possibility just over two years later. He spoke with hosts of the Inside Curling podcast, Kevin Martin and Jim Jerome on the journey so far.
“I had zero talent for it”
After consulting a lawyer, Frei realised competing for his home country as part of a national team would be near-impossible. However, he was blessed with another option – his mother was born abroad. In the Philippines.
But the initial thought of competing at the Olympics did not come until he was faced with his own mortality by doctors, who informed him he was in danger of dying young due to his poor health. With both his father and grandfather dying at the age of 59, he decided to do something about it. He took up a sport, with the aim of representing the Philippines at Milano Cortina 2026.
No, not curling. One of the most physically-demanding sports in the world – cross-country skiing.
Frei said: “So I decided to start cross-country skiing and I had zero talent for it, like none.”
Joining the “Team Philippines” group chat
Following an initial chat with Christian Haller, who got in touch with Frei over email with a proposal to either sponsor the team or join them, he was added to the WhatsApp chat “Team Philippines”, a flippant joke due to the origin of the three members’ families. Haller was in that group with two brothers with World Championship experience – Marc and Enrico Pfister.
“Marc was a bit more excited, but Enrico was not excited at all. He had retired from curling and was travelling around the world with his wife and he said he will never curl again – and then I came in and was like ‘hey, let’s try go to the Olympics’.
Taking the Camera Crew to the Pan Continental Curling Championships B-Division
Frei admitted it felt “embarrassing” as his newly-formed team turned up at the Pan Continental Curling Championships B-Division 2023 as a last-minute replacement for the withdrawing Kazakhstan. Nothing to do with curling ability, but down to being flanked by a production team, which he had recruited to document the team’s rise.
“[Brad] Gushue was playing there and we went in there with our camera team. We were in ‘B’ and they were in ‘A’ and having this camera team coming in when you have all these curling superstars.
“The idea behind it was fairly simple, probably many listeners know the movie Cool Runnings, like the Jamaican bobsleigh team who tried to make it to the Olympics and I realised this is just a fantastic story and it will be very hard to get the footage afterwards. So I had to invest and say okay this guy is coming along with us.”
Seeing two heads of state in a matter of weeks, following success in China
Two years on from wearing a helmet while he practised after slipping so often on the ice, Frei and Team Pfister were representing their nation at the Asian Winter Games in Harbin, China. At the Opening Ceremony he mentioned seeing Chinese President Xi Jinping in attendance. Little did he know he would meet with the President of the Philippines, Bongbong Marcos, following the competition.
Especially after he described his team as being “slaughtered” by Korea in the opening match of the men’s tournament. Victories over Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Chinese Taipei took them into the qualification matches, where they faced Japan. Frei said he had “the best game of my life” by defeating the established nation to make it into the final four. A victory over the hosts China saw them into the final for a rematch with Korea.
It was retribution for the 6-1 thumping they received on the opening draw, emerging with the gold medal after stealing for one in the final end to win 5-3.
“Then all broke loose. The President of the Philippines called us and he wanted us to come to the Philippines. Suddenly we had to go to TV stations and people didn’t know what curling is in the Philippines. Filipinos are very humble people, hardworking people, but often they’re nurses or they work as cleaners and they’re always in the second row.
“And we are like, you know what? Let’s shoot for the moon.”
For Team Pfister and the Philippines, they are set to take play in the Pre-Olympic Qualification Event 2025 in Aberdeen, Scotland from October 7 to 11. If they make the top three, they head to the Olympic Qualification Event in Kelowna, Canada. The top two teams from the eight teams competing will make it to the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
Inside Curling is the official podcast partner of World Curling, where this article was sourced.
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