Gymnast Carlos Yulo almost quit the sport many times, the last during the 2018 Asian Games and in the recent 2019 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Stuttgart, Germany.
Now, he is glad he didn’t after winning the floor exercises gold medal in the Stuttgart tournament and receiving a windfall of cash in the process.
“Nu’ng world championships, ganoon din ang nangyari sa akin. Sa kalagitnaan ng competition, tumigil ako at nawala ako sa focus. Parang hinayaan ko ang sarili ko. Pero ipinagako ko sa sarili ko na hindi na maulit ang nangyari na nag-stop ako. Na parang wala akong magawa. Naiiyak na lang ako, gusto kong lumaban at ipagmalaki sa lahat na kaya ko,” said Yulo.
Philippine sports’ newest hero talked about his experience while in Stuttgart during a welcome ceremony that was held in honor of him, and his fellow world champions boxer Nesty Petecio and Ernest John Obiena on Tuesday evening at the Sheraton Hotel.
Yulo, who scored a personal-best 84.048 points in Germany, grabbed a historic first gold medal for the Philippines in the floor exercise finals with 15.3 points.
The first time Yulo tried to quit was in 2017, the year that he was preparing to join seven international meets, including the 2018 World Championships where he finished with a bronze medal in the floor exercises.
But his mother Angelica talked him out of it when he went home from Japan for Christmas, after his coach Munehiro Kugiyama gave him a rest break.
For his feat, Yulo will now get total of P2.5 million, after businessman sportsman Manny Pangilinan added P1 million to his incentive from the government.
Presidential Adviser on Sports Dennis Uy, pledged P500,000 to each of the three.
The 27-year-old Petecio will also get P2.5 million, after Pangilinan added P1 million to what the PSC is giving, to go with Uy’s pledge.
Petecio won over hometown bet Liudmila Vorontsova on points, 3-2, to claim the 2019 AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships featherweight gold medal in Ulan-Ude, Russia on Sunday.
Obiena, who became the first Filipino to earn a slot to the Tokyo Olympics, will now get a total bonus of P2 million for his efforts
Obiena received P1 million from the PSC for winning the gold in the 30th Summer Universiade, another P500,000 for the Asian Athletics’ crown and the P500,000 from Uy.