Yearend 2024: Carlos Yulo and a golden year for Philippine sports

MANILA, Philippines — There was no shortage of historic moments for Philippine sports in the year 2024.

While Filipino athletes excelled in various international stints, there was no victory bigger than Carlos Yulo’s success on the biggest sporting stage no less.

Yulo ushered in the golden era of Philippine sports, scoring an unprecedented double gold finish in the Paris Olympics 2024  as he carried the country to its greatest achievement in a century.

Along Yulo’s magical run in Paris also came the resurgence of the Philippines’ top sports in the international scene with the Filipino boxers bringing back their lost glory, Gilas Pilipinas thriving under coach Tim Cone, and Alas Pilipinas progressing to a great rebuilding program with a couple of bronze medals.

Let’s take a look back at the golden 2024 before the new year.

Carlos Yulo’s historic double gold in Paris Olympics

Carlos Yulo accomplished the Team Philippines’ goal of surpassing its Tokyo Olympics 2020 campaign three years ago–all by himself.

Following a forgettable Tokyo Games run amid high expectations, the 24-year-old gymnast made sure to bounce back in what is considered the greatest sporting achievement of any Filipino athlete in history.

READ: Carlos Yulo silences doubters in historic feat at Paris Olympics

The Filipino dynamo delivered the country’s first Olympic gold in Paris after winning in the men’s floor exercise final, where he tallied 15.000 points as the third gymnast competing in his pet apparatus. He joined Hidilyn Diaz-Naranjo, who brought home breakthrough gold in the Tokyo Games.

And just less than 24 hours after his historic run, Yulo became a multi-Olympic gold winner after ruling the vault final, executing a 15.116-point performance on a 6.600 difficulty.

Yulo, who finished 12th in the all-around final, put the world on notice becoming the first Filipino gymnast to win an Olympic medal and the first from the country to win multiple golds.

READ: Gymnast Carlos Yulo gives PH its second Olympic gold

The two-time World Champion went home with millions of incentives and several heroes welcome to celebrate his greatness.

It may not have been a perfect homecoming due to his public spat with his mother Angelica Poquiz-Yulo but his double Olympic gold was celebrated by the whole country.

Yulo is committed to competing in Los Angeles 2028, seeking to bring more achievements in Philippine gymnastics.

Female boxers continue Olympics streak with bronze finishes in Paris

Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas  continued to fly the flag of Philippines boxing with their bronze medal finishes in the Paris Olympics.

Petecio fell short of reaching the women’s 57kg final after losing to Poland’s Julia Szeremeta in the semis,  but she became the first Filipino boxer to win multiple Olympic medals adding the Paris bronze to her Tokyo 2020 silver.

READ: Nesthy Petecio glad to help PH women’s boxing gain attention

Despite another tough loss and boxing’s uncertainty in LA 2028, the 32-year-old remained eager to win an elusive gold as she eyes a third straight Olympic berth in four years.

Petecio returns to action in the World Championship next year and the Southeast Asian Games. 

Villegas, on the other hand, had an Olympic debut to remember despite yielding to Turkish boxer Buse Naz Cakiroglu in the semifinals of the women’s 50kg boxing.

READ: Paris Olympics bronze just fuels Aira Villegas’ drive

Villegas was a revelation on her Olympic debut, pairing Petecio’s bronze to support Yulo’s double-gold campaign in the Team Philippines.

Petecio and Villegas still brought honor to the country after their teammates Eumir Marcial, Carlo Paalam, and Hergie Bacyadan suffered early exits in their respective divisions.

Gilas Pilipinas rennaisance under Tim Cone continues in 2024 

Tim Cone’s Midas touch for Gilas Pilipinas continues to work wonders after an unbeaten run in the Fiba Asia Cup Qualifiers and an impressive stint in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying tournament.

Riding the momentum of Gilas’ Asian Games gold medal run last year, Cone fully committed to the national program with a permanent post as head coach to start the year.

READ: Tim Cone says 2024 is Gilas Pilipinas’ ‘trial year’

Under his leadership, the Philippine basketball team continued to thrive with a roster composed of PBA superstars like JuneMar Fajardo, Chris Newsome, and Scottie Thompson and emerging stars Kai Sotto, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, and Kevin Quiambao.

And Gilas produced results right away dominating the first window of the Asia Cup qualifiers against Hong Kong and Chinese Taipei last February.

But their biggest highlight was when the Philippines stunned a European team Latvia in its first game in the OQT last July in the country’s final bid to make it to Paris.

READ: Gilas Fiba OQT stint signals return of PH as serious global force

Gilas made it to the semifinals of the OQT that featured higher-ranked, NBA-powered teams with Cone’s triangle offense and team’s girt earning the praises of their foes

Gilas Pilipinas lost to Brazil in the semifinals but not before putting a spotlight on the reemergence of the program.

It didn’t stop there for Gilas as it ended the year with a 4-0 record in the Asia Cup qualifiers after a breakthrough 93-89 win over New Zealand–the country’s first over its Oceania rivals in a Fiba setting– followed by a 93-54 rout of Hong Kong to qualify for the Asia Cup next year.

Besides the Fiba Asia Cup, Gilas will also compete in the 2025 SEA Games.

Melvin Jerusalem, Pedro Taduran make Philippines world champions again in boxing

After being left without a reigning world champion in 2022, the Philippines slowly started getting back its lost glory with Melvin Jerusalem and Pedro Taduran capturing world titles.

Jerusalem won the WBC world minimumweight title after dethroning Japanese Yudai Shigeoka by a split decision in his home country Japan last March.

READ: Melvin Jerusalem not content despite dazzling victory

It was Jerusalem’s second world title since 2023 when he first ended the Philippines’ world championship drought with a second-round knockout win over Japanese Masataka Taniguchi.

Jerusalem also successfully defended his belt after beating Luis Castillo of Mexico by unanimous decision.

Taduran became the second reigning Filipino boxing world champion after dealing Ginjiro Shigeoka’s first defeat with a ninth-round technical knockout last July.

READ: Pedro Taduran upsets Japan champ to reclaim IBF world title

Taduran joined Jerusalem as a world champion, winning the IBF minimumweight belt.

After leading Philippine boxing to victories this year, Jerusalem, who holds a 23-2 record, and Taduran (17-4-1) will have targets on their backs next year as they compete in respective title defenses.

Alas Pilipinas scores its first ever AVC Medal and shows bright future

The birth of Alas Pilipinas — the new monicker of the national volleyball teams — gave the new-look program a glimpse of a brighter future.

Along with veteran holdovers  Jia De Guzman and Dawn Macandili-Catindig, young stars Angel Canino, Sisi Rondina, Eya Laure, Fifi Sharma, and Thea Gagate pumped life into the women’s campaign in a potent mix that yielded immediate results–a historic bronze medal in the country’s hosting of the AVC Challenge Cup.

De Guzman, armed with her Japan league experience with the Denso AiryBees, led a bunch of youngsters and national team newcomers to a historic run in the country’s first AVC medal in 63 years after beating Australia in the battle for bronze.

READ: Alas Pilipinas wins AVC Challenge Cup bronze, beats Australia

Canino, a former UAAP rookie MVP from La Salle, also thrived in her first Alas stint despite playing in an unfamiliar position as an opposite spiker. But it didn’t stop her from being the country’s main weapon and even being named the Best Opposite Spiker of the AVC Challenge Cup.

The victory also gave national team coach Jorge Souza De Brito, who was about to pack his things and start a new life in another country, another chance to make a splash with Alas Pilipinas.

His young but resilient team proved that the Brazilian tactician, who arrived in the country three years ago as part of the FIVB Program, only needed the right pieces to win which led to his extension until the SEA Games next year.

Alyssa Solomon, Bella Belen, and Jema Galanza also returned to the lineup. 

READ: Alas Pilipinas podium finish ushers in new era for PH volleyball

The Nationals also regained the SEA V.League podium with a pair of bronze medals in two legs and a couple of individual awardees with De Guzman winning the first leg’s Best Setter and Gagate being named as a Best Middle Blocker. 

Alyssa Solomon led the country’s second bronze in Leg 2 and earned the Best Opposite Spiker — her second international award in the tournament.

Alas ended its national team period with a series of training camps and international friendlies, hoping to translate the successful year to winning the first medal since 2005 in the SEA Games next year.

It wasn’t only the women’s national team’s year as the men’s volleyball team got its historic participation in next year’s FIVB Men’s Volleyball World Championship.

New AVC president and PNVF chief Tats Suzara successfully won the bid for the prestigious men’s world championship, giving a chance for the Alas Pilipinas program to face the best of the best.

READ: PH assures ‘feel-at-home’ hosting of 2025 FIVB men’s worlds

Alas also went under the guidance of world champion coach Angiolino Frigoni of Italy and won a pair of bronze medals in the SEA V.League with Buds Buddin, a last-minute call-up, being a revelation winning the Best Outside Spiker in both legs.

The road to Alas’ World Championship debuts gets going as early as January 2025.