Marcos preparing hero’s welcome for Yulo, Olympians

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos is preparing a hero’s welcome for two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo and the other Filipino athletes who competed in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), the Filipino Olympians will be welcomed by the First Family at Malacañang on Tuesday, when they are expected to be feted and granted incentives by the President.

“President Marcos will personally honor the athletes and present them with their well-deserved incentives in recognition of their extraordinary contributions to Philippine sports and their stellar performance in the 2024 Paris Olympics,” PCO said in a Facebook post on Friday night.

Yulo, who won two gold medals in artistic gymnastics in Paris, will arrive Tuesday afternoon, together with the other Olympians. Their families will meet them at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay City.

From Villamor, the 2024 Paris Olympics athletes will proceed to the Philippine International Convention Center in Pasay City for a welcome ceremony by government officials before going on a heroes’ parade traversing key areas in Manila and culminating at Malacañang.

Apart from Yulo’s two gold medals, the Philippines also bagged two bronze medals in the Paris Olympics courtesy of Filipino boxers, Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio.

The Philippines sent 22 athletes to the 2024 Olympics which winds up today.

Marcos aims to add more medalists in future iterations of the Olympics and he would ask Yulo how the government could help in achieving such feat.

“For me, my interest is (to produce) more medalists like him (Yulo),” Marcos said in an interview on Wednesday. “I think he will be the best person to ask what else it is that we can do.”

International karate

Meanwhile, President Marcos has called on the public to support the Philippines’ hosting of the 22nd Asian Karate Youth Championship from Aug. 22 to 25.

The competition will be held at the Philsports Multi-purpose Arena in Pasig City and will be participated in by 38 countries and about 900 athletes.

In Memorandum Circular 55 signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin on July 16, Marcos directed all government agencies, instrumentalities and local government units to support the country’s hosting of the event.

“The Asian Karate Federation Championships is a highly-anticipated tournament of karate in Asia, which aims to bring together the best young karate athletes from across the region,” Marcos said.

“The hosting of said event in the Philippines will not only promote the sport of karate in the country but will also serve as an opportunity for training of Filipino athletes,” the Chief Executive added.