Bata pa lang, nakitaan na ng malaking potensyal si Carlos Yulo na maging kampeon sa larangan ng gymnastics. Pero paano nga ba siya nadiskubre ng Gymnastics Association of the Philippines at paano kaya nila paghahandaan ang susunod na 2028 LA Olympics?
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NewsTranscript
00:00Ms. Cynthia Carreon, President of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines.
00:07Maraming salamat po sa pagsama sa amin sa araw na ito.
00:11Salamat naman.
00:13Thank you for being with us.
00:14Dami po namin questions din for you dahil alam namin na yung sakripisyo rin from your end.
00:20Hindi lang from Carlos but even from your end.
00:22Yes.
00:23Pero balikan lang namin dun sa umpisang-umpisa, ma'am Cynthia.
00:27Yes.
00:28Saan ninyo ba na-discover ang isang Carlos yung lo?
00:32Kasi, do I talk in Tagalog, English?
00:35Whichever's comfortable for you.
00:37Because when I met him, of course he just wanted to learn how to tumble, tumble.
00:42But when I see him, I could see the passion in his eyes.
00:46And he wants to make, he doesn't have a coach but he's copying the gymnast.
00:52So I said, this boy is really, you know, so I asked him to join the Batang Pinoy.
00:58But he's 12 years and under and he has no coach and he won medals.
01:02That's when I said, this boy, you know, I asked him to join the Paralumpang Bansa with a coach this time.
01:09He won again medals.
01:11And then I said, oh, I'll give you a, we had a foreign coach in the gym visiting.
01:18And I said, it's Japanese.
01:20I said, can you stay over and coach this young gymnast that I think you would love because he's very, very good?
01:27And he said, yes, I will.
01:29So he joined and he was, he said, can I bring him to the World Championship, Junior Championship in Russia?
01:37I said, baka we will become kulela, I don't want.
01:41He said, no, no, no, no, he needs exposure.
01:44So we brought him.
01:45Do you know, he came bronze, Russia, China, Philippines.
01:51I was amazed.
01:54And the technical official in the, of the gymnastic told me, Cynthia, take care of that boy.
01:58Because if he did well in the pommel horse, he would have won silver medal.
02:05That's when I said, okay, I'll be more careful about it.
02:09And then his coach wanted to go back to Tokyo because he wanted to learn how to coach better.
02:15He wanted to go to school.
02:16And he gave me a big dinner.
02:18And I was wondering why he's giving me, I'm saying goodbye.
02:21I said, you cannot leave Carlos.
02:24I said, but I have to go back to Tokyo.
02:26And I said, is it okay if I send Carlos with you?
02:31He said, of course.
02:32He said, yeah, we'll make it.
02:34So that's when I started to beg for money for him.
02:38Was it a concern at the beginning?
02:40Because as Carlos mentioned, he started relatively late, at a relatively later age, at the age of 12.
02:47Was that a concern for you at that time?
02:49No, no.
02:50Because when you have it, you have it.
02:52When you have it, it's inborn.
02:56And he wanted really, he wanted to, you could see he was hungry for it.
03:04He wanted it, you know, for the Philippines, for us, you know.
03:09So you can tell.
03:12You can tell by, I have experience.
03:16And now we have plenty who want it.
03:20You mentioned that you had to scrounge around for funding.
03:24How hard is it to fund training abroad?
03:29Very, very hard.
03:30Especially for gymnastics.
03:31They said, what's gymnastics?
03:33Nothing.
03:34They know nothing about gymnastics.
03:35And they said, have we ever won a medal in gymnastics?
03:38Never.
03:39I mean, nobody wanted to help me.
03:42Like I said, I was a professional beggar.
03:45But MVP came through, and he came through and he gave us the money.
03:49And I was able to send him, and I was so happy.
03:52And once in a while, I visited him and see how he was doing in school.
03:56And that's why we're going to go back to his school to thank him,
04:01to thank the school for taking care of him, you know.
04:04So the plan is to go back, visit the coach and the school?
04:08The school, yes.
04:09Especially the school and the coach, yes, to say thank you.
04:13Because the school before, he was just going to school,
04:16but I had to write a letter and ask the president of the school
04:19if he could use the hyperbaric chamber, the fitness gym.
04:22They have a beautiful school.
04:24And he was not able to use it.
04:26And the coach said, please try to talk to the president
04:30so that Carlos can use it.
04:33So we did.
04:34And he said, yes, he approved it.
04:36So he has to thank.
04:37We have to thank him.
04:38Are there concrete plans already?
04:40Is there a timeline for when you plan to go?
04:43Maybe in November.
04:45Before the end of the year?
04:47Before the end of the year, but later on.
04:49Have you talked to them over the phone or via email?
04:53No, we were in Tokyo.
04:56When was that, Carlos?
04:57February.
04:58February.
04:59We were in Tokyo with the Japan Olympic Committee,
05:02and we already thanked them also.
05:04And we said, but this one is for the school.
05:08For the school in particular.
05:09Yeah, in particular.
05:10And at that time, we told them about the school,
05:12they're thanking, but we have to go personally, I think, to the school.
05:16Yes, Carlos, the golden hero of Philippine Gymnastics.
05:20Gymnastics Association of the Philippines.
05:23And so would you say that the golden hero has ushered in
05:26the golden era of Philippine Gymnastics?
05:28Yes, it's really now, like I told him,
05:31I have a hundred in the grassroots that wants to be another Carlos Yulo.
05:39So that, again, I need funds.
05:43It's lucky that Speaker Romualdez gave me some funds this morning
05:47for the grassroots.
05:49And I will give it to you.
05:52I mean, you have to inspire them.
05:55Yes.
05:56Inspire these young kids.
05:58Yes.
05:59It's like there's a special responsibility
06:02to be a golden hero, right, Carlos?
06:04Yes.
06:05And it's like…
06:06We can continue, yes.
06:08Yes.
06:09But Carlos mentioned earlier that his body is still looking for
06:14the return to training, and he's already preparing
06:18for the next Olympic cycle.
06:20What preparations have you, on the other hand,
06:23as President of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines,
06:26also been making for the LA 2028?
06:30Well, plenty, because before the LA 2028,
06:34we still have the SEA Games, we still have the Asian Games,
06:37we still have the World Championship.
06:39He has to qualify first.
06:40He has to go through all these qualifications.
06:42It's getting harder and harder.
06:44And I have to qualify a team.
06:46If we can, we can do it.
06:48I want him not to go alone, but to have a team
06:51of four other gymnasts.
06:53So we really…
06:54I'm trying to look now for a foreign coach now to come,
06:57not only for him, but for the other gymnasts
07:00that we have in the gym.
07:02So these four months, while they're resting
07:06and just training without any pressure of being
07:11in a competition, I'm going to look for a good coach.
07:15But I have to introduce them that they make sure
07:17that they work together well, not just anybody.
07:20It has to be they introduce, and if he says,
07:23okay, Mom, we like him, okay.
07:25Are there other gymnasts that you're eyeing already
07:28in particular to be part of the team?
07:30Yeah, we have.
07:31We have his cousin Ivan.
07:34Ivan Cruz is very good.
07:36He just needs a bit more.
07:38We have Miguel Bezana, who's also very good.
07:41We have Ace De Leon.
07:43All of those.
07:45And of course, his brother.
07:47He will be in time for the Olympics of 2028.
07:50How old is he now?
07:52Sixteen.
07:53Sixteen.
07:54Ah, so by then, twenty.
07:55Yeah.
07:56Oh, okay.
07:57According to the federation, you pick at the age of 25.
08:02Oh, okay.
08:03So he still has it.
08:04He's still our golden hero.
08:07Is there any truth to reports that you're also
08:10eyeing Jake Jarman to be part of the Philippine team?
08:14We were talking to him, but I talked to the high officials
08:18of the Philippines, of the British.
08:21These are the presidents and the CEOs,
08:23and they said, Cynthia, we spent so much money with Jake
08:26that we cannot release him.
08:28He's really a part of our team.
08:30Please, I hope you understand.
08:32The only way he can be part of the Philippine team
08:34is if he himself asks for it or his mom.
08:38So it's up to them.
08:40It's up to them if they want to be part of it.
08:42They know what we want, so it's up to him.
08:45I don't want to pressure him.
08:47So if he wants to be part of the Philippine team,
08:49we are open arms.
08:51We are inviting him and giving red carpet treatments
08:54so he will love to come.
08:56Same as what Carlos and the other athletes have experienced,
09:00the grand welcome and all that.
09:04Were you expecting that the welcome,
09:07the homecoming parade, the Heroes Parade would be that big?
09:10For him, yeah, I was.
09:12Because I told him in the Philippine Embassy in Paris,
09:18all the Filipinos were already there.
09:21Carlos, this is only one-fourth of what you're going to receive
09:24in the Philippines.
09:26I was so excited.
09:28He's going to be a hero.
09:30Two golds.
09:32In Asia, we're number one.
09:35No, in the SEA Games, the Southeast Asian Games,
09:38we're number one.
09:40Because of the two gold medals from Carlos.
09:43Speaking of the Heroes Parade, the homecoming parade,
09:48it recently came out that the other gymnasts, the female gymnasts,
09:53were asking why they were not invited.
09:56We just wanted to clarify.
09:58I'm glad you asked that.
10:00I'm so glad you asked that.
10:02They were not invited because, first of all,
10:04they were not here and we knew nothing about it.
10:06I got the message late.
10:10He didn't know anything.
10:12I didn't know anything.
10:14How would we invite them?
10:16They should be there when they have been part of it.
10:21I didn't know.
10:23In fact, from my trip to Paris to the Philippines,
10:28straight to Malacanang, I didn't expect that.
10:31I was not dressed for Malacanang.
10:33It's a good thing I had a jacket.
10:35I didn't change.
10:37I didn't have makeup.
10:39It was straight.
10:42How would I tell them, come, come?
10:44In the U.S.?
10:46You only found out about the homecoming parade on the flight?
10:50Yes.
10:51En route to Manila.
10:52I heard something that Carlos will have and the medalists.
10:56I thought it's only Carlos and the medalists.
10:58I didn't think all the Olympians would be invited.
11:02But they invited, finally, all the Olympians, even the officials.
11:05I didn't know I was going to be even invited.
11:08I invited even part of my board because they said,
11:12go ahead, invite.
11:14Last minute.
11:16They're from the U.S.
11:17How can they come all of a sudden?
11:19Very difficult.
11:20Have you had a chance to talk to the female gymnasts about this?
11:23Because one of them, if I'm not mistaken, it was Levi,
11:28who posted a screenshot of your conversation.
11:32She said that they were hoping to be invited,
11:36but they had no idea that something like this was happening.
11:39What was your reaction to her sharing this conversation online?
11:45Somebody asked me if I said I would not reply because it just gets me upset.
11:50They should be smart enough to know that if I had known about it,
11:55you think I would not invite them?
11:57Of course I will.
11:58I'm proud of them.
12:00This is the first time in the history that they're getting,
12:03they haven't won, but they're getting finances.
12:07They're getting incentives.
12:09Even their coaches, their foreign coaches are getting it.
12:12First time.
12:13Before never.
12:17I just texted them in our chat,
12:20you should be honored and happy and stop complaining.
12:26You can get out of the Philippine team if you want.
12:30I want Filipinos anyway.
12:34Ms. Cynthia, at this point, what is it that we will be watching out for?
12:38What's next?
12:39Is it the SEA Games?
12:40Is there another competition that we should be watching out for?
12:42There's a competition called IMUG.
12:45IMUG is for the martial arts.
12:47It's in Thailand.
12:48They canceled it.
12:50We're afraid that they might, because there's a new prime minister.
12:53I'm afraid that the prime minister might cancel also the SEA Games.
12:57But in the Philippine Olympic Committee today,
13:00with the meeting, I kind of felt that they're not going to cancel it
13:04because all the NSAs, us, all the countries, NLCs will complain.
13:09They want to be part of the SEA Games.
13:13Otherwise, another country would bid for it.
13:16Even we will bid for it.
13:18The Philippines will bid for it.
13:20Okay.
13:21Very exciting times ahead.
13:23We know you're very busy.
13:25Thank you so much for taking time out to be with us.
13:28Carlos, this is the last question.
13:30I remember when I interviewed you in 2022,
13:33you said that you needed a championship experience
13:38because you haven't reached the gold yet.
13:41You already have the championship experience.
13:45Does this mean there are even greater things in store for Carlos Yulo?
13:49Of course.
13:50There's always more.
13:56You know what he told me?
13:58He said he wants to do this all around.
14:01You know how hard that is?
14:03To win all around.
14:05Yes, because that's all the events.
14:07Floors.
14:08Pummel horse.
14:09Right now, he's 12 in the world.
14:11He wants to be up there.
14:13That's what we're looking forward to in the next Olympics in LA.
14:19Thank you so much.
14:21Thank you so much, Carlos.
14:22Thank you, Ms. Cynthia, for being with us and joining us today.
14:24Thank you very much.
14:25Thank you very much.