The constellation of the biggest and brightest stars of Philippine sports captivated everyone in a night that will be remembered forever.

Ditching the usual gears, uniforms, and sportswear, the best Filipino athletes showed up with their good-looking suits and gorgeous gowns as the Philippine Sportswriters Association honored the heroes of yesteryears and the golden victories of the present in the San Miguel Corporation PSA Awards Night on Monday, Jan. 27 at the Manila Hotel.

Standing the tallest of them all was the golden boy of gymnastics Carlos Yulo, who was hailed as the Athlete of the Year by the country’s oldest media organization headed by president Nelson Beltran of the Philippine Star for his historic double-gold performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Yulo became the first Filipino to ever win two gold medals in the highest level of sport – a fitting celebration to the country’s 100 years of participation in the quadrennial meet and an even greater followup to Hidilyn Diaz’s breakthrough gold in the Tokyo edition.

“Gusto ko lang po talaga magpasalamat sa Panginoon sa lahat ng blessing at challenges na binigay nya sa akin. Lahay ng paghihirap ko lahat ng pagod sobra worth it talaga, nakamit ko ang tagumpay kasama ang mga mahal ko sa buhay,” said Yulo during his acceptance speech where he also expressed his gratitude to his partner Chloe San Jose, gymnastics federation president Cynthia Carreon and his coach Aldrin Castaneda.

“Maraming maraming salamat po ulit sa mga nagdasal, sa mga nagpuyat lahat po iyon worth it, Thank you so much po sama sama niyo po kaming ipagdasal ulit sa darating na 2028 LA Olympics. Muli ako po si Carlos Yulo at ang panalong ito ay panalo nating lahat,” he added.

Interestingly, Diaz was supposed to share the spotlight with Yulo after being inducted into the PSA Hall of Fame after winning the Athlete of the Year awards in 2016, 2018, 2021, and 2022 but the weightlifting queen was not able to attend and instead only delivered her acceptance speech through a video message.

Also receiving their President’s award were Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio for their bronze medals in Paris.

They shared the spotlight with other past and present athletes as the PSA also recognized the Olympians from 1964 to 2020, including keynote speaker Freddie Webb, along with the members of the Paris Olympics and Paralympics delegation.

The Gymnastics Association of the Philippines was hailed as the National Sports Association of the year while Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham ‘Bambol’ Tolentino was awarded with the Executive of the Year plum.

June Mar Fajardo and Kevin Quiambao (Mr. Basketball), Jia de Guzman (Ms. Volleyball), Rubilen Amit and Carlo Biado (billiards) and Melvin Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran (boxing), Daniel Quizon (chess), Rianne Malixi (golf) Tachiana Mangin (taekwondo) and John Alvin Guce, Batang Manda and Benhur Abalos (horse racing) were the major awardees.

NCAA and MVP Group of Companies received special awards to join 19 citation awardees and seven recipients of the Tony Siddayao Awards to complete this year’s honor roll.