CARLOS “CALOY” YULO will fly to Tokyo after his world championships campaign in Antwerp not to resume training but to say goodbye to his friends and fellow athletes.
“He’ll fly back there so say goodbye,” Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion-Norton told BusinessMirror from Belgium where she’s accompanying Yulo for the world championships.
Yulo bolted his Tokyo training and cut ties with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugiyama who’s significantly responsible for honing him to two world titles and a stint in the Tokyo Olympics.
Yulo in the process forfeited his scholarship at the Teikyo University in Itabayashi where he has one year left to complete his Literature degree.
What many are apprehensive about though is Yulo losing his sponsors.
Carrion-Norton was quick to defend the former vault and floor exercise world champion.
“As long as he’s winning, sponsors will always be there for him and it’s coming in,” Carrion-Norton said. “They’re still with him like Toyota, they still support Caloy.” “But we do not accept anything for the meantime until he’s not winning yet,” she added.
Carrion-Norton, meanwhile, said it’s Yulo and Kugiyama who parted ways.
“Everything is okay with us [GAP] because coach Mune is still connected with us by helping our grassroots program,” Carrion-Norton said.
She said that Kugiyama and the Japanese Embassy in Manila continue to support the GAP particularly the Japanese Cultural Grassroots Project.
“There’s no problem and the separation went smooth. Coach Mune is taking care of our grassroots, and he’s coming in to search for new promising talents like Caloy to develop to become future Olympians and world champions,” she said
Yulo skipped the Asian Games to seek qualification in the Paris 2024 Olympics at the world championships in Antwerp.
