CARLOS “CALOY” YULO has flown back to Tokyo from Liverpool where he clinched silver in vault and bronze in parallel bars at the world gymnastics championships.
No gold this time in the worlds for Yulo, who won one in floor exercise in 2019 in Stuttgart that qualified him for the Tokyo Olympics and another in vault—plus silver in the bars—just last year in Kitakyushu that validated his inclusion in the roster of the world’s elite gymnsts.
But with the Paris 2024 Olympics due in less than two years’ time, it’s back to work for the 22-year-old.
“I really need to go back to training, maybe two or three days of rest, because I will be competing in a team club competition in Japan in December,” said Yulo, who’s back to base in Tokyo with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya.
The competitions in Japan are purely inter-club events, Yulo stressed, but they’ll keep him on his toes as he stares at a busy 2023 where qualifiers for Paris are set.
“I hope to get high scores there,” he said.
Getting high scores won’t solely be Yulo’s task. His federation, the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP), would surely watch over him.
“The plan is to see him win gold medals in Paris, so we will do everything in our power to make it work,” said GAP president Cynthia Carrion-Norton.
A significant addition to Yulo’s program, Carrion-Norton said, would be sports psychologist Dr. Marissa Guinto.
“We need someone who’ll talk with Caloy, to cheer him up and motivate him at times like this,” Carrion-Norton said. “At the same time, we will try to bring his teammates as well to cheer him up because he’s alone all the time while other countries have more gymnasts.”
Yulo’s a priority athlete under the Philippine Sports Commission’s elite sports program and undergoes specialized training like Tokyo Olympic gold medalist weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz and Asian men’s pole vault record holder Ernest John “EJ” Obiena.
Carrion-Norton said they are confident Guinto, research director for psychology at the University of the Philippines, could help Yulo in his Olympic journey.
The GAP head also said that she’ll discuss with Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) President Rep. Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino the possibility of setting up Yulo’s training camp in Paris earlier than planned.
Yulo could make the Paris grade at the Antwerp world championships in September or earn qualifying points in tournaments in Cottbus (Germany) in February, Doha and Baku in March and Cairo in April.
Image credits: AP