Amaro, Yulo king, queen of ’24 Palaro

CEBU, Philippines — Tanker Albert Jose Amaro II of Calabarzon and gymnast Iza Yulo of the National Capital Region lorded it over their respective disciplines with memorable performances in the Palarong Pambansa yesterday.

Amaro splashed his way to three gold medals with victories in the 50-meter and 200m freestyle and 4x100m freestyle relay with Kevin Arguzon, Eric Jacob Umali and Nimrod Montera.

Completing a magnificent seven-gold haul at the Cebu City Sports Center pool, Amaro emerged as the king in this weeklong multi-sports meet for grade school athletes.

When the smoke of battle dissipated, the Naga-born, incoming San Beda 12th grader flashed “seven” with his fingers to his friends on the bleachers.

“Sumignal po ako sa teammates ko nasa taas kasi before the start of the campaign, alam po nila yung goal ko na maka seven gold medals, sila po tumulong para ma achieve yun,” said Amaro, acknowledging friends who kept the faith in him.

Yulo, younger sister of Paris Olympics-bound Carlos and quintuple 2023 Palarong Pambansa gold winner Karl Eldrew, for her part, emerged the queen of the mat as she raked in five of the six gold medals staked in secondary girls women’s artistic gymnastics.

Two days after topping the individual all-around and team events at the Cebu Institute of Technology Gym, the 14-year-old Leveriza, Manila native went to work and dominated the uneven bars, balance beam and floor exercise where she scored 9.850, 12.050 and 10.900, respectively.

Yulo actually ended up tied with NCR teammate Cielo Esliza and shared the gold in floor exercise, but Reyland Capellan, the former’s coach, asked for a review as they felt they did a more difficult routine that should be enough for clear first.

Yulo had a chance for a sweep but a disastrous first attempt in vault—where she landed with both hands on the pad—cost her the gold that went to Central Luzon’s Tallula Adrienne Nadres, who had 11.775. With 11.650, Yulo settled for the silver.

“Takbo ko hindi maayos,” said Yulo on her missed vault gold.