P750,000 prize awaits Yulo for two-medal win

MANILA, Philippines – Expect a gold rush for the Philippines in men’s artistic gymnastics next year as world champion Caloy Yulo trains his sights in three international events, including the 51st FIG World Championships in Liverpool, England.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion on Tuesday said during the online Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum that the 21-year-old Yulo will compete in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games in May, the Hangzhou Asian Games in September and the Worlds in 2022.

“It’s going to be a busy year for Caloy because he’s going to compete in all those events,” said Carrion.

The SEA Games gold medalist from Leveriza, Manila should be the favorite to deliver golden performances in all those meets after he captured a vault gold and a parallel bars silver in the Worlds in Kitakyushu, Japan recently.

For his feat, Yulo was rewarded an incentive amounting to P750,000 — P500,000 for the mint and P250,000 for the silver — from the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

In the world tilt, Yulo has collected a total of two golds, including one in Stuttgart, Germany two years ago, a silver and a bronze in Doha, Qatar in 2018.

In the SEA Games, Yulo is eyeing to improve on his two-gold, five-silver haul in the 2019 edition of the biennial meet hosted by the country.

The ultimate goal, however, remains an Olympic gold.

Carrion said there is hope that Yulo could compete in the individual all-around in the 2024 Paris Games, not just the floor exercise, vault and parallel bars where he is most strong.

“It’s still three years from now so there’s more time to prepare,” said Carrion.