Winning process will ‘take time,’ Carlos Yulo tells gymnast brother Eldrew 

MANILA, Philippines — Amid Philippine gymnastics’ plans to send a men’s team to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Carlos Yulo urged his younger brother Eldrew to stay focused on his goals.

“[My advice] to him is to gain experience, although I think we will face different paths,” Yulo said in Filipino. “And even though we still have the same goal, we will go through it differently…so I hope he will just stay strong.”

While the 24-year-old Carlos made history as the Philippines’ first double Olympic gold medalist, the 16-year-old Eldrew has also started to make a mark in local and international junior gymnastic competitions. 

“[Eldrew] will discover things in training, since it is hard to prepare and the process will take some time, just like what I went through,” he added.

Along with Carlos, the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) plans to develop more talents to form a quartet that can qualify in the LA Olympics.

“We want to go to LA in 2028 with a team and [Carlos] will be leading a team,” said GAP chief Cynthia Carrion during a press conference where DigiPlus and ArenaPlus awarded Yulo a P5 million cash incentive and a trophy, and renewed his contract as brand ambassador.

“Of course, a team is composed of four athletes and one reserve, and we really must train the other three so we can win as a team,” added Carrion.

The GAP president said Yulo has laid out bigger goals in his next Olympic bid.

“[Carlos] wants to win the gold medal for all-around. When you say all-around, that’s six apparatus and that’s going to be very, very difficult. He’ll be training very hard, and I just pray he doesn’t get injured because once you get injured it’s very difficult. That’s our prayer, that he doesn’t get injured,” she said.

“And we have big plans, we’re going to get a lot of coaches for other players, going to send him to training camps wherever — England, Korea, Japan — all these places so he gets experience.”

For the meantime, Yulo will take the rest of the year off, and focus on 2025, with several high-level events such as the FIG Artistic World Championships and the Southeast Asian Games set late next year. — Rappler