MANILA, Philippines — Carlos Yulo etching history in the Paris Olympics is just the beginning.
The ultimate dream for the Philippine golden boy is to help produce more gold medal-potential gymnasts through a dedicated academy down the road.
“After po ng career ko, gusto ko rin po pumasok sa coaching and help other kids. Hindi ko pa sya iniisip sa ngayon pero in the future, ‘yun po ang gusto kong gawin,” said Yulo during a media availability with TV5, Cignal, MediaQuest and The STAR yesterday at the TV5 Launchpad Building Center in Mandaluyong.
Some are saying that it should be named the Carlos Yulo Gymnastics Academy, similar to the recently launched Hidilyn Diaz Weightlifting Academy in the name of the country’s first Olympic gold medalist.
But Yulo said championing gymnastics and other sports will have to be more than that.
“Marami pa pong aspects para matulungan yung mga atleta. Sana i-introduce more sports sa schools, then later on kung gusto talaga nila ituloy, nandiyan naman po yung PSC at POC para mag-accommodate ng athletes,” Yulo said, noting Japan as the perfect model example.
Yulo trained for the majority of his career in Japan under the watch of his former mentor Munehiro Kugiyima, and he could only marvel at the topnotch Japanese sports culture from the grassroots to the collegiate level.
“Siguro po sa knowledge lang tayo kulang sa sports. Sa Japan po, grabe ‘yung culture ng sports nila. Mas maganda na naglalaro ang mga kabataan ng kahit anong sports, gymnastics man po, athletics o basketball. Gusto ko pong mag-encourage na mapalawak pa po ‘yun,” he said.
Meanwhile, there is a plan for the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines to hire a foreign coach with options from Japan, Bulgaria and Australia to bolster Yulo’s program for the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
“I have to see who is the best coach and there are so many who now want to coach Carlos after the Paris Olympics,” said GAP president Cynthia Carrion.
This is to max out Yulo’s potential at a prime age of 24, with a massive harvest of medals still waiting to be won.
After that, the academy could be next for Yulo.
“Yes po, pangarap ko po ‘yun pero for this time, focus po muna ako sa gymnastics (career),” said Yulo, who’s warmly welcomed by young gymnasts from all over the country in an Eat Bulaga guesting at the TV5 Center yesterday.