As a regal gymnastics queen herself, Cynthia, without a doubt, has enabled the coronation of Carlos Edriel Yulo as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian double Olympic gold medalist in history. As etched on the front page of The Philippine Star on Aug. 3, 2024, the day after he won his first gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics, Carlos, after all, is “King Carlos.”
By JOANNE RAE M. RAMIREZ
The road to Paris has been a decades-long journey for Carlos Yulo, filled with financial potholes. Golden-haired Cynthia, who first saw Carlos’ tenacity at the gym when he was just seven years old, took it upon herself to pave the dirt road that eventually led to his place of honor at the podium in Paris. In the process, the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president became, as she herself says, “a professional beggar.”
Undaunted by lack of government support, even from sportsmen in public service, she raised funds for Carlos’ coach, studies, board and lodging as he trained in Tokyo with one promise to the benefactors: “I am going to give the country a gold medal.”
Still, it was as difficult as doing somersaults on parallel bars.
“Before Carlos went to Japan, I needed money for him to go to Japan. That is when I was really begging for money because to tell you the truth, you know how much we spent? P18 million! He had to travel, go to school, hire a coach. It was really expensive.”
“I got Munehiro Kugimiya, the Japanese coach, when he was visiting the Philippines with a gymnast from Sri Lanka. I asked him to stay to coach Carlos. I was paying for his coaching fees as the Philippine Sports Commission had not approved to pay for his coaching fees. Then he told me he was returning to Tokyo to study and become a better coach and so I asked him if he could have Carlos with him and he said yes. I asked Carlos and he, too, said yes and that is when I became a professional beggar asking to fund his trip to Tokyo and only MVP replied to my call,” recalls Cynthia of how she patiently cobbled together Carlos’ training during his lean and hungry years.
She quips, “It was God, Carlos, me and MVP. MVP, period.” MVP is none other than tycoon Manuel V. Pangilinan of the MVP group of companies. He built a gym for Carlos to train in and gave millions of pesos for Carlos’ rigorous training.
Carlos is the first Filipino to win multiple Olympic gold medals. But in the beginning of the Paris Olympics, the hope and the hype were not on the exceptional 24-year-old gymnast from Leveriza in Manila.
Then the future King Carlos conquered Paris. Three years after his Tokyo “slip,” Carlos came through “with the performance of his life” and delivered “a triumph for the ages” in the floor exercise final at the Bercy Arena in Paris, according to The STAR.
And watching from the sidelines, never leaving his side was Cynthia, who admires Carlos’ humility despite his dizzying fame and considerable fortune.
I remember Cynthia during the Assumption Convent velada 20 years ago. During the velada, the different classes celebrating milestone years performed onstage. Cynthia’s class, which included then-President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, was celebrating its ruby year since high school.
President Arroyo was extremely busy, but she understood how much her presence at the velada would mean to her alma mater. Cynthia not only coached President Arroyo for her dance steps, she led her class, the ruby jubilarians, into bringing the house down with their moves to the tune of the greatest hits of the ’60s.
Cynthia, who continues to have a 28-in waistline, would also conduct aerobics classes for the lady President at Malacañang to boost the latter’s physical and mental health.
Cynthia would also conduct aerobics classes for the lady President at Malacañang to boost her physical and mental health.
And that is how I always think of Cynthia. A doer, an enabler, a miracle worker, a disciplinarian when necessary. She makes things happen, and makes history.
“Carlos’ wish is I continue to be with him in his 2028 LA Olympics (journey) as he wants to achieve his all-around Gold Medal,” Cynthia tells me. “Carlos always thanks me and knows that without me, he would not have achieved his gold medals. He said in his speech in Malacañang that I was always by his side.”
Cynthia has been called the “wind beneath the wings” of Carlos.
She recalls the first time she met him, in the old decrepit gym where the GAP then held office. Once, as she was getting ready to leave her desk at the end of the day, Cynthia took a look at the gym’s floor and saw a seven-year-old furiously practicing still. His grandfather was with him.
“I saw this little boy, Carlos. He had no coach. He learned by observing what the athletes were doing. Copying them and doing a good job. He was self-taught.”
“I told myself, ‘He’s doing a good job.’ So I came down and said, ‘Carlos, come here. Do you want to join Batang Pinoy?’ He said, ‘Ma’am, I don’t have a coach, but I will try.’ I couldn’t give him a coach because everybody was busy. But he tried and he won almost all the medals, almost. I was not surprised. Somebody without a coach, who still wins a medal! I said, ‘Carlos, I’m very proud of you. Why don’t you join Palarong Pambansa? I’ll give you a coach this time.’ And I gave him a coach.”
The disciplined regimen Carlos follows is nothing new to Cynthia. She has always been disciplined herself. In her teenage years, she had multiple offers to join show business. But her parents refused to give their permission and instead dinned into Cynthia the importance of academics, sports, ballet and playing the piano. To meet her parents’ expectations, she excelled in all.
“Study, study, study,” were her marching orders.
That’s why she was a force to reckon with during Carlos’ training.
But Japan was no walk in the park for Carlos.
“His Japanese coach sent me some photos of him. Dead in the car, dead on the floor. Because he wasn’t used to the Japanese training. That’s why I wanted him to be in Japan because the discipline is phenomenal. And being with the best of the best. Watching the best of the best. He said, ‘I want to be like them’.”
“For the Tokyo Olympics, I remember he wasn’t prepared. First time he was going to a big coliseum and it was mindboggling. He felt so bad to disappoint me. He was crying. And I said ‘Carlos, it’s okay. Next Olympics. This is your try out. Your rehearsal.’”
Does she give Carlos personal advice?
“Yes. I have given him advice, but I study it first. I want my advice to be the right one so that he will trust me.”
Carlos’ girlfriend Chloe San Jose has her vote for helping Carlos focus on his training and detach himself from personal troubles.
“She wakes him up in the morning, makes sure that he eats well. Here in the Philippines, she makes sure that she has his training for the mind. He goes through the training before he sleeps and when he wakes up. We have a way of training for the power of the mind because I have always felt the power of the mind is very, very important. It can carry a weak body. The mind is so important.”
Multi-tasker
From 2003 to 2010, Cynthia, wife to Jerry Rollin, mother of Warren Lionel Norton and the late Aileen Margaret Norton (from her first marriage) and grandmother of three (Paloma, Arianna and Diego Norton) was Tourism undersecretary for sports and wellness, and championed sports tourism during her term. She concurrently served as the executive director of the Philippine Commission on Sports Scuba Diving for several years.
When she took on the presidency of the GAP in 2007, it had not fielded any athletes for international competitions and had no accredited judges. That all changed under her leadership. In 2017, Cynthia became chairman of the Corregidor Foundation. In 2020, she was appointed general manager and CEO of the Philippine Retirement Authority.
At present, she is president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines; treasurer and executive board member of the Philippine Olympic Committee; vice president for Asian Gymnastics Union; and executive committee member of the Women in Gymnastics Commission under the Federation International de Gymnastique.
Her awards include “100 Most Influential Filipina Women” in the World given by the Global Filipina Women’s Network (2016); “Personal Fitness Trainer of the Year” conferred by the IDEA (2009); “Ambassador of the Sea” given by the Ocean Environment for her dedication and leadership in promoting the conservation and protection of marine resources in the Philippines (2008) and “Best in Women in Sports” for the whole of Asia continent Awarded by the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne, Switzerland (2003).
The secret to the success of her multi-tasking?
“I love people and I want to help everybody,” she says in a heartbeat. “I told Gloria (Macapagal-Arroyo) once, ‘Gloria, remember this, anything I touch turns into gold.’ I told her that.”
Cynthia confides she thought Carlos would actually win two golds and one silver in Paris 2024.
“I really thought it was going to be three. Two gold medals and one silver for the P-bar. (But) I wasn’t disappointed that he didn’t make it,” says Cynthia.
Cynthia remembers the times Carlos wanted to quit being a competitive gymnast because of the demands of the training.
She would tell him, “Think, think of the future. You know, I promise you, if you continue, you’ll be an Olympic champion. And I said, if you become Olympic champion, your life will change. Nobody will remember me, I said, but they will remember you.”
Her words have proven prophetic. But perhaps, not about people forgetting her.
Filipinos will never forget the golden-haired cheerleader behind King Carlos’ throne.
Photography by MARK CHESTER ANG
Art direction by DEXTER FRANCIS DE VERA
Styling by AARON MANGSAT, MIKE DE GUZMAN and GEO PALMIANO (MGP)
Hair by FLOE TAPAYAN for L.A. GIRL • Makeup by CAREL GARCIA
