Carlos Yulo, of the Philippines, celebrates after winning the gold medal during the men’s artistic gymnastics individual vault finals at Bercy Arena at the Paris Olympics 2024, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)
Carlos Yulo designed his own training camp prior to the Paris Olympics and wound up winning a historic two gold medals.
No one would blame him for running the whole thing back again.
“We haven’t planned anything yet, but we agree that our training camps should be held in other countries where he could adopt new techniques,’’ Yulo’s coach, Aldrin Castañeda, told the Inquirer in Filipino.
That was the same blueprint Yulo drew up for the Paris Games and the plan netted golds in the men’s floor exercise and vault.
The 24-year-old gymnastics hero trained with floor exercise ace Lee Jun-ho in South Korea in February followed by another camp where Yulo honed his skills with Jake Jarman, whose mother is Filipino, in Lilleshall, England.
The 22-year-old Jarman eventually joined Yulo on the podium after claiming the Olympic bronze in the floor exercise.
Carlos Yulo waves the Philippine flag as he faces the crowd at Rizal Memorial Colisuem, the last stop of the Heroes parade for the Filipino athletes from the Paris Olympics 2024. –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net
“We have talked about staying for a month in another country to learn new routines from other gymnasts that we can hopefully embrace,’’ said Castañeda.
These multiple monthlong camps should come next year in between the World Cup series, the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, and the Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand.
After all the festivities surrounding his victory die down, Yulo takes a needed respite for one month before gradually getting back into the groove.
“Our target for him to return to training is October. But he needs to recover first, so we need to do it slowly and as light as possible,’’ said Castañeda. “We don’t want him to get injured.”
Yulo received accolades and cash bonuses from the Senate on Monday amounting to P3 million while boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas got P1 million each for their bronze medals.
“I’m very happy and overwhelmed and super honored that we were all recognized. Thank you for recognizing us and the coaches,’’ said Yulo.
Also attending the recognition of the senators were boxer Eumir Marcial, gymnasts Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, John Febuar Ceniza, Elreen Ando, hurdlers John Cabang Tolentino, Lauren Hoffman, rower Joanie Delgaco, swimmer Jarod Hatch and judoka Kiyomi Watanabe.
“I’m very tired. After all the activities, I plan to take a much-needed rest,’’ said Yulo, who has been stuck in the celebrations, appearances and promotions for a week since he arrived from Paris.
