The world-class Filipino gymnast and double gold medalist gives us a glimpse of what his life is like post-Paris Olympics, including how he deals with fame and competition, as well as his plans to get married and his decision to again go for gold in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
By ALEX Y. VERGARA
If you were to ask gymnast Carlos Yulo to describe himself in relation to the circumstances that led him to his current state in life — from growing up poor in a rough-and-tumble part of Malate, Manila to now living a life of fame, fortune and relative comfort, which includes a string of lucrative endorsement deals and a multi-million-peso luxury condominium unit in McKinley Hill given to him by leading property developer Megaworld — the double gold medalist in the 2024 Paris Olympics offers only one word. Blessed.
It’s not that he’s the greatest in his sport, Carlos insists. Although, if we are to zero in on the Philippines and Southeast Asia, he has every right to claim such a title for being the first and, so far, only Filipino and Southeast Asian artistic gymnast to best his rivals in multiple events after his electrifying and nearly flawless performance in the floor exercise and vault.
Standing barely 4’9”, the soft-spoken Carlos won’t even go as far as calling himself good. Lucky doesn’t quite cut it either. “It wasn’t as if I just closed my eyes and after a deep sleep opened them to wake up to the life I’m living now,” Carlos, fresh from a photo shoot requiring him to do a series of gravity-defying poses for photographer Mark Nicdao, says in Filipino.
Golden harvest
Everything that he’s reaping today, from the collective adulation of his grateful and proud countrymen to being able to afford to travel abroad occasionally with girlfriend of four years Chloe San Jose (not to train or compete, take note, but for pure leisure), is the product of talent, determination and sacrifice. It took him long hours of arduous, almost mind-numbing training at home and abroad to get here.
“I’d say my favorite places to visit for leisure would still be Japan and Korea. Since I haven’t begun training yet, this time, I’m just chilling,” says the globe-trotting athlete who has traveled to various parts of Asia, Europe and the United States to train and compete.
His journey to winning two Olympic golds began when his grandfather, Rodrigo Frisco, first saw Carlos, then aged seven, jumping and tumbling with joy and ease at a local playground. Rodrigo, spotting early signs of talent, brought his grandson to the nearby Rizal Memorial Coliseum so he could train in gymnastics with the other kids.
In succeeding years, Carlos, then already a teenager, started joining regional and national competitions. By then, he was already under the wing of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines now led by its current president Cynthia Carrion Norton, a recent PeopleAsia “Women of Style and Substance” awardee, whom Carlos considers his second mother.
As the stakes got higher, a fired-up Carlos left the Philippines for Japan in 2016 to avail himself of a scholarship from the Japan Olympic Association. Under the tutelage of a Japanese coach, he took his game to the next level. In between bruises and relatively minor injuries that came with the territory, Carlos was able to reap various honors as a gymnast abroad for himself and for the country.
With every triumph, including winning gold in the 2022 Southeast Asian Games in the all-around, and loss, foremost of which were his failure to qualify in the floor exercise and snag a bronze at the vault final at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, falling short by a mere 0.017 points, Carlos kept his eye on the prize. All these despite the exhaustion, a change in coach, mental health crisis and all.
Now that he has managed to bring home not just one, but two Olympic prizes, how has his life changed since Paris?
“Outside of my work as a gymnast, I became like a celebrity [after bringing home two golds]. Overnight, my life turned upside down. Unbelievable! But I consider everything that’s coming my way a blessing.”
He’s not lucky nor is he the greatest. “I’m just blessed,” he reiterates.
Everybody loves a winner
Although being elevated as a living and breathing modern-day hero by his fellow Filipinos was to be expected, Carlos, not even once imagined himself occupying such a lofty pedestal. Suddenly, everybody wanted a piece of him — from fans who find him as cute as a button to a slew of companies knocking on his door to ride his coattails as their chief endorser.
Through it all, he has remained grounded, afraid, for instance, of offending a fan who just wants his or her picture taken with him. And most of the time, unless he’s being whisked away by his team to one of his many commitments, Carlos is willing to oblige.
“No, I don’t mind. [Doing so] comes with the blessing. It comes with what the Lord has given me. I’m grateful,” he says.
Carlos is, in fact, apologetic if he’s unable to stop by and give in to everyone’s request. And since he’s more than willing to oblige everybody — strangers and sponsors alike — malling, he shares, or even going to the grocery to shop for essentials has become next to impossible.
He may have lost certain freedoms ordinary Juans and Marias take for granted every day, but Carlos isn’t complaining. In exchange for these everyday freedoms is much, much more than he could ever imagine. “Grabe talaga!” (Really, unbelievable!) he gushes.
“Being likened to a hero is such a huge honor,” he continues. “Of course, I’m super grateful that people appreciate me for what I’ve achieved. But inside the world of gymnastics, nothing much has changed. We are all just trying to do our best by making the most out of our training to win.”
Carlos claims that he doesn’t feel any pressure to perform extremely well versus his rivals. And that’s not because he has nothing more to prove. On the contrary, since everyone will again be starting on equal footing, all their scores and achievements in past competitions now belong to history, waiting to be erased by the next star performer and his record-setting performance.
Put simply, just like in every sports endeavor, you’re only as good as your last medal.
Back to zero
“After the previous cycle, we all go back to zero. That doesn’t mean wins from the past don’t matter. But once the cycle starts again, you will be measured not by what you have achieved, but what you can do at present,” he explains.
That doesn’t mean though that all the experience and discipline he has acquired and nurtured all these years will go for naught. Any day now, Carlos will be back on the training circuit to prepare for various competitions and qualifying events, as he and his rivals set their sights on the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. By then, he will have turned 28, no longer that young, but still young enough in the world of gymnastics to be considered at the top of his game.
“Twenty-eight is usually the age when male gymnasts peak. After that, your capabilities tend to go down gradually. But it will also depend on the state of my health, both my mind and my body, when the competition comes,” says Carlos. If the stars continue to align for him in the coming years, he plans to try his luck, or rather, wring out more blessings up to the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.
The wind beneath his wings
In an earlier interview with journalist Büm Tenorio Jr., Carlos intimated that he and Chloe, an influencer and now a recognizable public figure in her own right, plan to tie the knot very soon. How soon? They haven’t settled on a date yet, at least not publicly. But, for sure, it would happen before he again sees action in Los Angeles.
Before Chloe came into his life four years ago, Carlos was at his wit’s end as he dealt with extreme burnout. You can’t blame the boy, as all he did day in and day out back then was practice, practice, practice.
“I’m used to hard work and long hours of training, but there was a point in my life as an athlete when training became extremely challenging. All my energy was spent on training. It wasn’t anymore a healthy or balanced way of approaching it,” he shares.
And then came Chloe who, if previous reports are to be believed, also started out as an ardent fan of Carlos. But unlike his fans now, she was already following his every move on Instagram even before he became a household name by virtue of his golden successes. She messaged Carlos on a social media platform, and he eventually responded. One thing led to another until their fateful first meeting.
“She ended up helping me a lot as I dealt with certain issues, including my mental health,” he says of Chloe. “She really took care of me. In the process, I also learned to love myself even more.” How can some people be so blessed?
Photography by MARK NICDAO
Art direction by DEXTER FRANCIS DE VERA
Styling by RYAN VILORIA
Grooming by MABETH CONCEPCION
