The Filipino nation burst in jubilation as gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo won the gold medal in the floor exercise in the 2024 Paris Olympics last Saturday, Aug. 3, duplicating the feat achieved by weightlifter Hidylin Diaz when she brought home the country’s first-ever Olympic gold medal at the Tokyo games in 2021.
The new Olympic champion also bagged the gold medal in the same event at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany in 2019. A year earlier, he became the first Filipino and the first Southeast Asian gymnast to win a medal in the world championships in Qatar, earning a bronze for his feat. In 2021, he won his second world championship gold medal in the vault event of the competition held in Japan. This was after his debut at the Covid-delayed games in Tokyo.
Carlos Yulo’s Olympic odyssey started at the age of seven, as he began tumbling at a playground in their neighborhood on Leveriza street in Malate, Manila. As narrated in published reports, his grandfather brought him to the nearby Rizal Memorial Sports Complex where he trained at the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines facilities.
A year later, he began competing at the Palarong Pambansa held in Tarlac City as a member of the National Capital Region delegation that won the team championship. In 2013, he moved up to junior-level competition where he harvested medals.
Then in 2016, he began training in Japan with support from the Federation Internationale Gymnastique and the MVP Sports Foundation that paved his pathways at the senior level of international competition. He credits his stint in Japan as being instrumental in enabling him to become truly competitive in global contests.
The Filipino youth could learn significant lessons from Carlos Yulo’s exemplary athletic career.
Recalling how he fared at his first Olympic competition in which he failed to win a medal, he disclosed that he was deeply disappointed and disheartened — considering that he had painstakingly prepared for the event while enduring the loneliness of being separated from his family and friends. In a video documentary, he said: “I prayed hard for guidance to overcome the loneliness of being abroad, for trust in my coach, faith in God.”
Eventually, he said, he realized: “As long as you keep trying, even if you make mistakes, that’s achievement and progress.” This enhanced his sense of self-worth and self-confidence, noting that “true growth comes from hardship and realizing that your time will come.”
He thanks his coaches — past and present — including Aldrin Castañeda, who had coached him during his junior days; Gymnastics Association of the Philippines Cynthia Carrion; and Japanese mentor Munehiro Kugimiya.
Indeed, Carlos Yulo’s time has come — and he has emerged as an authentic Filipino youth hero and role model. As he basks in the glory of his victory, he stands as a worthy role model for embodying the modified Olympic motto: “Citius, Altius, Fortius – Communiter” and “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together” that underscores the importance of humanity’s solidarity in the continuing quest for excellence.