FINDING ANSWERS
Olympic double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo is the superhero we Filipinos have long been yearning for, ever since the Philippines joined the world’s most prestigious sporting event exactly 100 years ago.
His rise to the apex of fame and glory at the ongoing Paris Olympics ushered in a lot of “firsts” for our country. He’s the first Filipino male athlete to win gold, the first-ever Filipino gymnast to do so, the first Filipino to bring the Philippines two golds in a row.
Of course, Hidiliyn Diaz shall forever be known as the heroic Filipino who captured our very first Olympic gold that has eluded us since 1924 when we first joined the summer games that were held also in Paris.
The heroic feats of both Diaz and Yulo are certainly awe-inspiring. Their Olympic triumphs instantly brought unbridled happiness to a nation suffering from the global economic crisis and lingering ravages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Like Diaz who endured many frustrations on the way to success, Yulo also had the heart of a champion who never gives up, who always strives for triumph over adversity, despite the obstacles and failures that come along.
Before his outstanding performances at the artistic gymnastics’ vault and floor exercise on Saturday and Sunday, Yulo previously suffered a setback at the all-around final when he fell from the pommel horse and landed dead-last in the scoring, shattering his Olympic medal quest for the event.
Lesser mortals might have given up, but not Yulo. He clawed his way back in succeeding rotations, had strong performances on the vault, rings, parallel bars, and floor exercise. He managed to finish 12th overall in the all-around finals. And, more importantly, he also managed to pick up the pieces of his morale.
Prior to the setback before his tremendous triumph in Paris, failure plagued Yulo in 2021 at the Tokyo Olympics. He had a disappointing finish in the men’s floor exercise where he was expected to excel because it was the same event in which he was crowned the world’s best in 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany.
In Tokyo, he struggled in his routines, placing 44th out of 64 gymnasts in the preliminaries of his pet event. At the vaults, he ended in sixth place, way off from even an Olympic bronze medal. He also performed poorly in the rings (24th place) parallel bars (55th), horizontal bar (63rd), and pommel horse (69th).
Despite the failures punctuated with wobbly landings, a disheartened Yulo still managed to look at the bright side. In describing what he went through in his previous Olympic appearance, he was quoted as telling journalists: “This wasn’t entirely a loss, I gained experience.”
One can imagine the pressure Yulo had undergone prior to Paris. Aside from being gold medalist in the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastic Championships, he had won golds in many other gymnastics championships – in Doha and in Melbourne. He also won gold in the 2023 and 2024 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, and also in many Southeast Asian Games.
But despite all the top awards in many prestigious international competitions, there’s nothing like the Olympics, the most prestigious of them all. Thus, the pressure to perform well and triumph at the Olympics can be overwhelming.
For the longest time, excelling in the world of gymnastics has been a dream of many Filipinos. I remember that when I chaired the Senate Committee on Youth and Sports when I was senator in the late 1980s, among our top gymnasts then was Bea Lucero. It’s unfortunate that she did not make it to the 1988 Seoul Olympics, apparently due to sports politics.
When Yulo began showing his potential as a gymnast a decade and a half ago, many Filipinos felt that our time to shine in artistic gymnastics has arrived. Expectations were so high that he would perform so well at the Tokyo Olympics. When he failed, many were in disbelief. But when he continued to persevere, Filipinos cheered him on.
His determination to succeed despite the odds, plus his unrelenting faith in God, can really be awe-inspiring to many of us facing challenges in life. Yulo’s historic triumph in Paris gives Filipinos great pride. Watching our flag being raised as our national anthem is played at the Olympics awarding ceremony is awesome. For that, we’re thankful to Carlos Yulo, our newest superhero. (finding.lina@yahoo.com)