Carlos Yulo

Yulo, at seven years old, was part of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines program.[8] He was brought to the association after his grandfather took notice of him performing somersault while in the playground. As a child, Yulo was provided by the Philippine Sports Commission free training at the Rizal Memorial Complex with Ricardo Ortero as his coach. He started competing in 2008. Among the tournaments he competed in included the Palarong Pambansa, the national tournament for students in the Philippines, as part of the National Capital Region's gymnastics team. He did not secure a medal in the first edition[10] he took part in but reached the top podium the following year. In the 2011 Palarong Pambansa, Yulo garnered four gold medals, while he claimed another gold medal finish for the 2011 Philippine National Games.[11]

With consent from his parents, he left for Tokyo in 2016 for further training under Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya.[8] He entered the limelight in 2017 when he competed at the 14th Junior Asian Championships in Bangkok, Thailand, and despite suffering from a sprained ankle in training, clinched gold in the parallel bars after qualifying in fourth place.[3]

Yulo began competing as a senior in 2018, at 18 years old.[12][13] In his Gymnastics World Cup debut in the 2018 series, he consistently performed well, winning a medal in the Melbourne, Baku, Doha, and Cottbus events.[5] At the men's floor exercise event at the 2018 Asian Games, he scored highest in the qualification phase[14] but failed to secure a medal after finishing 7th in the final.[5]

At the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha, Yulo advanced to the all-around and floor exercise finals.[15][16] He won bronze in the floor exercise [17] becoming the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to win a medal at the championships.[18] At the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Yulo claimed gold in the floor exercise finals. A historic feat as the first ever Filipino winning gold at a world gymnastics championship.[19][20]

By advancing to the final round of the all-around event of the 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, Yulo secured qualification to compete for the Philippines at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[21]

At the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, Yulo finished on the podium in every event winning gold in the all-around[22] and floor exercise[23] and silver in the pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars, and horizontal bar.[24][25]

Yulo reportedly trains for six to eight hours a day, six days per week.[3]

• President's Award, 2020 Philippine Sportswriters Association Awards[26]