News

PARIS – Carlos Yulo can no longer visit a shopping mall or go to a supermarket in Manila, the Philippines, without getting mobbed. In a country obsessed with basketball and boxing, the 24-year-old gymnast is now arguably its most famous athlete, after winning two gold medals in the floor exercise and vault in Paris to become the Philippines’ most successful Olympian. His life was so different just three years ago in Tokyo, when he remembers holding compatriot and weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s Olympic gold – the nation’s first ever. In a recent interview with The Straits Times at Toyota Asia’s Start Your Impossible Night at Shangri-La Paris, Yulo said: “I just remember, in Tokyo, I met Hidilyn and I held her medal, and I also said to myself, next time, maybe I can do it. And it really did happen. “I’m really glad and so happy that my dreams came true, and also the impact that I made to Filipinos and it also feels like I gave momentum to our other athletes.” Life has been “really crazy” since the Paris Games as he now needs to be accompanied by security personnel when he is out. But the pint-sized gymnast is lapping up the attention, laughing as he said: “It’s not like I’m being ungrateful, I’m really grateful that they’re praising me, and they look at me as a hero, but before, I could walk by myself and now even Grab drivers recognise me. “I went back to the Philippines with so much overwhelming support and love that I’m receiving right now. I’m really just grateful for them that they’re noticing the hardships that we’ve been through, and also the results that I get, just really grateful for them.” For his exploits, the Philippine government awarded Yulo 34 million pesos (S$789,430) and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr also contributed an additional 20 million pesos. He has also received various cash prizes, two houses and a condominium unit from companies. Home may be where the heart is but, after spending nearly a third of his life training in Japan, Yulo admitted that he feels out of place at times and considers himself “60 per cent Filipino and 40 per cent Japanese”. He said: “I was 16 when I went to Japan and trained there for seven years and, when I went back to the Philippines, I needed adjusting for a lot of things because the facilities are not good in the Philippines. It’s very different, if you compare it to Japan. And being there shaped me a lot, I experienced a lot, not only in gymnastics but in my personal life. It was really hard, but I found myself and I’m very grateful for what I have and what I can do.” His success comes after a tough 2023 season hit by uncertainty and poor results. The two-gold world champion (2019 floor exercise, 2021 vault) parted ways with his long-time coach Munehiro Kugimiya in October and returned home from his training base in Japan. At the world championships in Belgium, his qualifying campaign for Paris looked in jeopardy after he performed badly in the rings, vault and all-around. He eventually qualified for the floor exercise final and earned a spot in the Olympics. Coach-less five months out of the Olympics, he did training stints in South Korea and Britain alongside some of his rivals. Admitting that the culture in Japan was sometimes too much to take, the 1.51m athlete said: “They’re like addicts to the point that it’s not good any more, but I really respect what their culture is and I think I adopted that also. “I wanted to quit a lot of times but, at the end of the day, I really wanted to reach my dream and see what my full potential is. “So I just kept going, even though I did not want to practise any more. If I’m in the gymnasium, I’m just gonna start moving, because I can’t help myself.” After clinching a historic Olympic double, he is now eyeing the Los Angeles Olympics in 2028 and aims to retain his golds. He added: “My next goal is to get a medal in the individual all-around and try to protect the gold medal in floor and vault. But there’s always more to it, it’s not all about the medals, for me, it’s all about experience.”