Easy on golden boy Caloy, please
Nineteen-year-old Filipino gymnastics sensation Caloy Yulo, an inch or two short of 5 feet, plucked off his gold medal and proceeded to drape it on his Japanese coach Munehiro Kugiyama. This was in a postvictory conference.
Yulo declared he didn’t win alone.
He thanked coach Muye and, above all, God for the triumph in the World’s floor exercise in Stuttgart over the weekend.
It was a truly startling feat for a young man who swore gymnastics is hardly given notice in his country.
“Filipinos, they like basketball, but we’re small,” the wonder boy quipped.
With the Philippines’ first ever gold in world gymnastics, tiny Yulo has blossomed into a sporting giant.
The Associated Press said Yulo hopes to raise gymnastics’ profile in a country where basketball is king.
That’s flattering, indeed. But Yulo was quick to declare he wanted to take things one at a time. No rush, no hysterics. He refused to be carried away.
Problem: How does he start taking it easy again?
This early, he’s hands down the lead candidate to carry the Philippine flag in next year’s Tokyo Olympics.
Yulo, needless to say, becomes the poster boy of the Philippines’ hunt for the elusive Olympic gold medal.
Meanwhile, it was reported Yulo “will be the favorite to harvest the gold medals in the SEA Games, where he is projected to prevail in the seven events he’s entered into.”
He was supposed to fly straight to Tokyo from Stuttgart to resume training. But Cynthia Carrion, president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP), said Yulo was slated to call on President Rodrigo in Malacañang Wednesday.
A P1-million reward awaited him and boxer Nesthy Petecio, who also bagged the gold in an international competition.
As we went to press, the MVP conglomerate of tycoon Manny V. Pangilinan said it would also reward Yulo and Petecio a million pesos each.
Earlier report said there would be a grand welcome.
And we still have to hear from advertising world hounds who are expected to jump in and swarm Yulo with astounding offers.
It’s a most lucky break for the entire Philippines, but shouldn’t they find a way to shield poor Caloy Yulo from the useless hassles that’s mounting by the day?
It’s all unintended, but the Associated Press was not kidding when it unwittingly assigned Yulo the task of pushing gymnastics up in the Philippines.
Yulo will be the main target of rivals in next year’s Tokyo Olympics but unlike all the boiling pressure around him, that was all to be expected.
