World champion gymnast Carlos Yulo has been an inspiration to many Filipinos, but he has made the biggest impact on his siblings – Karl Eldrew and Eliza “Iza”.

Yulo, the second to the eldest of four children, pioneered the sport in his family and he dreams that all of them will compete together by the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

“Sobrang gusto ko na makalaro kapatid ko si Eldrew. Gusto ko hintayin siya hanggang 2028. Siguro last ko po ang 2028 pero di pa siya decided kasi what if kaya ko pa po. Hindi ako basta’t basta tumigil,” Yulo told reporters on Tuesday, October 26.

“And gusto ko makita ‘yung kapatid ko si Eliza sa makapag-Olympics na maging team kami pagpunta ng Olympics. Sobrang cool po noon.”

(I really want my brother Eldrew to compete in the Olympics. I will wait for him until 2028. I think 2028 will be my last, but I’m still undecided because what if I can still do it. I’m not going to stop for no reason. I also want to see Eliza compete in the Olympics, so that we’ll be a team when we go to the Olympics. That would be so cool.)

Since Yulo’s historic world championship gold in 2019, the 13-year-old Eldrew has already declared that he will be better than his older brother, and local gymnastics officials have taken notice of it.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion mentioned that the national federation has started sponsoring the education and training of Eldrew in order to prepare him for more intensive training.

“We’re starting to support him. Eventually, Eldrew will also be going abroad when he’s old enough,” said Carrion.

Yulo’s legacy has also encouraged other boys to aspire to excel in gymnastics, which is considered a marquee event in the Olympics because of sports stars like Simone Biles.

“Eldrew will be our next gold medalist, but there’s still other boys that are really good and they’re passionate about it, because you have to have that passion and the love for the sport,” added Carrion.

As Philippine sports struggles to make a comeback in the COVID-19 pandemic, Carrion shared that the national sports association made the most out of its time to build a new gymnastics facility in Intramuros, Manila.

The gym will be used by the local gymnastics program once the construction is completed and when restrictions ease up.

“We’re still fixing the whole thing, but we’re already getting all the equipment from the Philippine Sports Commission. And once the roof is done, we will transport all the equipment to the new gym, and they can start training there,” said Carrion.

In the 2021 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Yulo secured another gold in the vault and a silver in the parallel bars a day after failing to defend his title in the floor exercise.

He made history by becoming the first Filipino gymnast to bag multiple world championship medals in a single staging of the event.

It was redemption for the 21-year-old star after only qualifying for the men’s vault final in the Tokyo Olympics and narrowly missing a podium finish. – Rappler.com