Brothers in arms

There’s a strong possibility that the Yulo brothers, Carlos and Eldrew, will represent the Philippines in gymnastics at the 2028 LA Olympics. Qualification will be based on performance at the 2026/2027 World Championships and World Cup series with the 2028 Continental Championships the final test. The 2026 World Championships will be held on Oct. 17-25 and the 2027 edition on Sept. 28-Oct. 6. The World Cup series will be staged on Feb. 24-April 15, 2028 and the Continental Championships by the end of May 2028.

The deadline for entries is June 26, 2028. Carlos, 26, won gold medals in floor and vault at the 2024 Paris Olympics and last year, took the gold in vault at the World

Championships. Since 2022, he has collected 11 gold medals from the Asian Championships in floor, vault, parallel bars and all-around. Eldrew 18, made it to the finals in floor and horizontal bar on his senior-level debut at the World Cup in March last year then took the gold in floor at the World Cup, signaling his ascendancy. If Carlos and Eldrew continue their mastery, they’ll be shoo-ins for the LA Olympics.

In Olympic history, several siblings have worn the Philippine colors. The most celebrated brothers were boxers Roel and Onyok Velasco who both brought home medals. Roel, now 53, bagged the lightflyweight bronze at the 1992 Barcelona Games while Onyok, 52, claimed the silver in the same division at the 1996 Atlanta conclave.

Other Olympic siblings who represented the Philippines were boxers Carlos and Pempe Padilla (1932), basketball’s Fely and Gabby Fajardo (1948), swimmers Pete and Tuding Lozada (1956), swimmers Jocelyn (1956) and Sandra (1960) von Giese, sailors Jesus (1960, 1964, 1976) and Manuel (1968) Villareal, boxers Rene (1972), Ric (1972) and Rey (1976) Fortaleza, shooters Horacio (1960) and Paterno (1964) Miranda, cyclists Rolando (1968) and Rodolfo (1984) Guaves, swimmers Lee (1988, 1992) and Guy (1988) Concepcion, boxers Arlo and Ronald Chavez (1992), boxers Isidro (1992) and Virgilio (1996) Vicera and boxers Arlan and Danilo Lerio (2000).

Philippine Olympic fathers and sons were boxers Jose (1932) and Anthony (1964) Villanueva, basketball’s Franco (1936) and Leonardo (1956) Marquicias, weightlifters Rodrigo (1948, 1952, 1956) and Arturo (1972, 1976) del Rosario, sailors Jesus (1960, 1964, 1976) and Juan (1976) Villareal and wrestlers Gonzalo (1952) and Dean (1988) Manibog. Weightlifters Arturo and Salvador (1968, 1972, 1976) del Rosario were cousins. Boxer Manolo Vicera (1968) was a cousin of Olympic siblings Isidro and Virgilio

. The Villanuevas were the only Filipino father and son to win Olympic medals. Jose or Cely pocketed the bronze in bantamweight boxing in 1932 and Anthony took the silver after losing on a disputed 3-2 split decision to Russia’s Stanislav Stepashkin in the featherweight final in 1964