Double Olympic champion Yulo relishes young brother’s emergence at Asian Games

NAGOYA – Paris Olympic double gold medallist Carlos Yulo, the first Filipino man and artistic gymnast to win an Olympic title, is back on familiar ground in Japan for the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games alongside his younger brother, who is making his Asiad debut.

The 26-year-old from Manila made history two summers ago in Paris by winning apparatus golds in floor exercise and vault. It followed a nearly eight-year stay in Japan, where he honed his skills after arriving in 2016.

“I really feel at home here,” said Yulo, seeking his first Asian Games title. “Coming here is really normal for me. I kind of adapted to the lifestyle here. It’s nothing new.

“I am grateful the Asian Games are taking place here, and to be able to experience it is still a big opportunity for me.”

Yulo met coach Munehiro Kugimiya at the Filipino national team training camp when he was 13. The raw youngster started off by learning the basics of handstands and twists, and the pair went on to start living together in Tokyo.

Yulo claimed the World Championship floor gold in 2019, finished fourth to narrowly miss the vault podium on his Olympics debut in Tokyo in 2021, then made history in Paris with a performance that rocketed him to stardom in his home country.

“Obviously I like taking pictures with people and having time to chat with them, but sometimes you want your own privacy,” he said. “It’s also a big responsibility because they look at me as their hero... At the same time, I want to be authentic and original.

“But it’s all right. I’m happy and grateful for all the things that have come to me since then.”

While Yulo returned to the Philippines before the Paris Olympics, his 18-year-old brother, Karl, also received guidance from Kugimiya in Japan in 2025.

The teenager, competing in his first senior season, said his time in Japan taught him “consistency, discipline, focus and you have to love what you do”.

“Everything I learnt, I’m applying to my training in the Philippines,” Karl said.

While aiming to follow in his brother’s footsteps with a future Olympic gold, the youngster said his brother is “a teammate but not a rival”.

“It has inspired me so much. I was never doubting him, but I didn’t think it was even possible for a Filipino to do so well,” Karl said. “It inspired a lot of Filipinos, and of course I’m one of the Filipinos that he inspires the most. I’m pretty proud of him.”

The presence of his sibling on the same team is also providing Carlos with a new source of motivation ahead of the World Championships in Rotterdam in October.

“There are a lot of challenges that we faced together,” Carlos said.

“Now we’re together as a team and as a family. He’s growing, I’m really proud of what he’s doing, grateful to be with him in this competition and hoping to be with him in other competitions (too).” KYODO NEWS