Big plans for Yulo

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion isn’t giving up hope on Caloy Yulo and now that he’s experienced what it’s like to be under pressure performing in the Olympics, there’s no doubt the 21-year-old “pocket rocket” will be more than ready to go for gold in 2024 and even in 2028.

“Caloy will be stronger, more mature, physically and mentally,” said Carrion. “In 2024, coach Mune (Kugimiya) plans to qualify a team of four so Caloy won’t be alone in the competition. We’re building a Team Caloy like Team Hidilyn so we’ll cover everything he needs. We never expected for Caloy to miss out on the floor final in Tokyo but the surprise was he made it to the vault final. If not for the foot fault in his first vault, he could’ve landed at least a bronze because his score in the second vault was the highest among all the finalists. I foresee Caloy vying for the gold in floor, vault and parallel bars in Paris.”

Carrion said POC president Cong. Bambol Tolentino visited Yulo’s school in Tokyo to pay a courtesy call on Teikyo University chairman and president Yoshihito Okinaga and his training hub at the Tsukahara Gymnastics Center during a break in the Philippine delegation’s Olympic competition schedule. Okinaga committed to Tolentino that Yulo will be given full access to the school’s gym facilities free of charge. At the Tsukahara Gymnastics Center, vice president Chieko Tsukahara introduced Tolentino to the kids who train alongside Yulo, an icon in their eyes. Yulo is expected to earn his Sports Science and Human Behavior degree next year.

Carrion said Yulo’s tuition at the university is P800,000 a year and the bill is shouldered by the MVP Sports Foundation. Beyond that amount, PSC allocates P3 million a year for his living expenses. Yulo has lived in Tokyo the last four years and works with Kugimiya and physiotherapist Jumpei Konno. The day after Yulo finished his competitions in Tokyo, he was treated to a one-night stay at the plush Imperial Hotel by Tolentino and PSC chairman Butch Ramirez.

Carrion said Yulo is staying in Tokyo to prepare for the Japan championships in September and the World Championships in October. The plan is for Yulo to visit home and spend the holidays with his family which he has been away from for two years.

On the homefront, Carrion said she is relocating the gymnastics training center to a 2,000-square meter facility at Victoria corner Basco in Intramuros. “It will be a complete gym with equipment for men’s and women’s artistic gymnastics with four apparatus for women and six for men plus sports aero and trampoline,” she said. “We won’t include rhythmic gymnastics as it needs a very high ceiling so we’re asking Mayor Isko to sponsor the Andalucia Gym for rhythmic gymnastics. The main center will have a sports lounge and a 30-person seminar room for our judging and coaching seminar, trying to also include a café for the athletes on the second floor. It will cost us P250,000 a month and hopefully, PSC will pay P200,000 but we’ll need to raise P50,000 more from sponsors.”

Carrion said elite, junior and developmental athletes will train in the facility. “So many now want to join gymnastics because of Caloy’s success,” she said. “Hopefully, we can get the private sector to put their logo at the center as our sponsor. It’s the only way to attract good athletes by having a good gym with good coaching staff. The equipment we’ll use is the PSC equipment at Rizal. We’ll finally move the equipment that cost millions to a place where it can be well maintained.”

Carrion said the national pool consists of 31 gymnasts, including 10 male. There are 11 in artistic, nine in rhythmic, eight in aero and three in trampoline. The youngest is Breanna Labadan, 15 and the oldest is Chris Quevedo, 31. Of the 31, 18 are 20 and under. Yulo is not in the roster as a special case. The cast includes 11 local and three foreign coaches. Kugimiya, Yi Li and Konno are listed as foreign coaches.