Gymnasts gird for Asiad

MANILA, Philippines — Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion said yesterday she hopes to bring home medals from the Asian Games in Hangzhou, China, next year after blanking out with a nine-strong delegation in the previous event in Indonesia. Carlos Yulo was the closest to land a podium finish as he placed fourth in vault in 2018 but has since elevated his routine to capture world championships in floor exercise (2019) and vault (2021), two golds in the 2019 SEA Games and five golds in the 2021 SEA Games.

“We’re confident of Caloy and our men’s team but we need to boost our women,” said Carrion. “So far, there are eight women in our national pool with two training abroad.  Our plan is to increase the pool to at least 15 before the Asian Games with the goal of winning medals in Hangzhou.  Gymnastics coach Cliff Parks, who’s married to a Filipina, is helping us find a coach for women.  There’s time to get it done but we must start our program now.”

Carrion said the ongoing three-day Legends Performance Camp featuring five world-renowned mentors attending to over 100 female gymnasts and coaches, 50 percent from outside Metro Manila, at the GAP Training Center in Intramuros is a step in the right direction. “The idea of the camp came from two former national gymnasts Chiara Mijares and Chloe Gatlabayan,” she said. “They thought of setting up a camp for female gymnasts and we partnered with their group called Flip It Forward to bring in five coaches from the US. Chiara’s mother Kristine and Chloe’s mother Shel played a big role in making it happen. The objective of the camp is to give our female gymnasts the opportunity to develop their skills and build foundations under the eyes of elite and Olympic-level coaches. Aside from the camp for gymnasts, we’re also conducting a coaching clinic so our coaches can experience first-hand guidance and learn new techniques and coaching styles.” The camp ends tomorrow.

The five coaches are Parks, University of Utah coach and floor exercise expert Mary Wright, balanced beam specialist Terrin Humphrey, former Bulgarian national gymnast George Kostadinov and former US floor exercise champion Kerry Huston.  Humphrey, 36, is a five-foot bemedaled gymnast whose intricate maneuver on the balanced beam became known as the “Humphrey,” a 2 1/2 turn in a tuck stand on one leg with a free leg option. She took a gold in team at the 2003 World Championships and at the 2004 Olympics, collected a silver in team and another silver in uneven bars.