The country’s first two-time Olympic Gold medalist, who hails from Leveriza St. in Manila, will be biting into so much more than his two medals in the coming days.
Soon after winning two Olympic gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, Carlos Yulo found himself being showered with numerous pledges and prizes from the government and private sectors alike.
These include at least P 10 million from the National government (as mandated by RA 10699), P 6 million from the House of Representatives, a three-bedroom McKinley Hill condominium unit and cash bonus totaling P35-million from Megaworld Corp., P1 million worth of products from SM Retail (both department stores and supermarkets) and a lifetime of freebies from other restaurants and other establishments. Yulo will also reportedly receive a house and lot from the Philippine Olympic Committee.
But who exactly is the Philippines’ first two-time Olympic Gold medalist, who also happened to bring in the country’s first Olympic medals in gymnastics?
Meet Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo
According to various sources, the 24-year-old gymnast from the city of Manila is the second of four siblings. Born Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo on Feb. 16, 2000 to Mark Andrew Yulo, who was reportedly a travel agent liaison, and homemaker Angelica Yulo, he and his family lived in Leveriza St., back in the day.
In a video interview released by Rappler in 2012, a 12-year-old Carlos expressed his desire to win medals at the Southeast Asian Games. “In 2009 at the Palarong Tacloban, I lost because I lacked training. I came back here, trained harder and on May 20 [2011], I became the champion at the games in Zamboanga. In the next games, I hope to be the champion,” Carlos said in the vernacular.
Since then, older photos of Carlos have made the rounds on the Internet, one of them being that of the young athlete, when he joined a gymnastics clinic with other kids at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in 2008.
Contrary to previous reports that Carlos was a street child who used to forage garbage for a living, Girls Scouts of the Philippines president Nina Lim-Yuson clarified that Caloy’s grandfather would organize gymnastics clinics for street kids alongside paying students (including her nephew Lope Lim).
In 2016, Yulo received a grant from the Japan Olympic Association, which enabled him to train in Japan under a scholarship program. It was there that he continued his education at Teikyo University in Itabashi, Tokyo, where he graduated in 2022 with an associated degree in literature.
Fans of Carlos would also know that the now world-renowned gymnast is in a relationship with Chloe Anjeleigh San Jose, a fan who reportedly sent him a direct message via X [formerly known as Twitter], on April 20, 2020. The two have been spotted on social media in the years that followed, as Chloe traveled the globe to watch her boyfriend in competition. — By Jose Paolo S. dela Cruz
