Both of Christian Tio's parents were professional kiteboarders[2] who influenced him to take up the sport at age 7.[4][5] He developed his skills in his native Boracay[4] and trained under his father until February 2016; his father's death. He was later mentored by Fabio Ingrosso of Srilankakite, a kiteboarding school in Sri Lanka.[5]
He has competed and won multiple times at the Kiteboarding Youth Cup competing in the U19 (under-19) category at age 15 in the 2016 edition where he won third place. In the previous iterations he competed in the U17 category.[5]
Christian Tio was the second Filipino athlete to qualify for the 2018 Summer Youth Olympics in Buenos Aires, Argentina.[6] He clinched the sole berth contested for the boy's twin tip racing event at the Asian qualifiers in Pranburi, Thailand on March 18, 2018.[7]
Boracay's closure from April to October 2018 affected Tio's training for the Youth Olympics and had to train elsewhere. Tio participated at a competition in Italy and the Philippine Kiteboarding Association also sent him in Norway and the Dominican Republic for further training. While in the Philippines, Tio trained in Lake Caliraya in Laguna.[8]
Tio competed in the IKA Twin Tip Racing event at the Club Nautico San Isidro. Several of the races where cancelled but Tio was able to secure a silver medal. Deury Corniel of Dominican Republic won the gold medal while Toni Vodisek of Slovenia also won a silver medal.[9] Tio's medal was the first medal of any color credited to the Philippines at the Summer Youth Olympic Games.[10]
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