Picture by 2024 Getty Images

Filipino double Olympic gymnastics champion Carlos Yulo’s quiet life might be over.

The 24-year-old soared two the gold medals, on the floor exercise and vault, at the Olympic Games Paris 2024 and knows life will be a little different back home.

“I prefer a quiet life, honestly, but I can’t avoid people recognising me because of the honour I was able to bring to our country,” Yulo told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview at adidas House Paris. “It’s really part of the deal that a lot of people will notice me. It’s still a blessing in my life, so I’m still very thankful and grateful.”

Yulo’s medals represent the second and third gold medals for the Philippines at the Olympic Games.

In Paris, he got to connect with his nation’s first Olympic champion, Hidlyn Diaz, who won weightlifting gold three years ago at Tokyo 2020.

Diaz, perhaps more than anyone, knows what awaits Yulo.

“She said, ‘Goodluck!’” he said with a laugh. “To stay strong, not to worry, just to keep focusing on myself. The advice I got from her, I’ll keep that in my mind.”

Yulo’s immediate golden celebrations included a steak dinner, and, then, a trip to Disneyland Paris.

Social media has been packed with details of his other rewards – from houses to free flights – that await his return to Manilla.

“I don’t know much yet,” he said of all that. “I heard I’ll be getting a lot of prizes, but maybe I’m more focused on the next cycle of the Olympics. It will be a greater experience for me because I want to defend that title that I won [here] in the next cycle and show everyone that I’m worth of a gold medal in all my performances in my competitions.”

The last year of Yulo’s life has not been easy.

A shocking performance during qualifying at the World Championships in 2023 nearly left him needing to look for another route to an Olympic quota spot.

Then, he and his longtime coach split, sending him from his training base in Japan back home to the Philippines, to training camps inthe Republic of Korea and most recently Great Britain.

That journey, he says, might have been exactly what he needed.

“It’s been a rollercoaster of everything that’s happened to me,” said Yulo. “Those times made me stronger. I was able to meet the people that I needed to meet. [Those times] taught me values not only in gymnastics but also in my person life.

“I’m so grateful to all the people who helped me,” he continued. “The results that I got here in the Olympics, they’re definitely a part of that.”

There will be more results, he hopes, as he already looks ahead to LA 2028.

“I have to make plans so I can move forward again,” said Yulo, “and to target another gold medal in the next Olympic cycle.”