MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, flew home to a hero’s welcome Tuesday with a planned national tribute by the president and donors pledging more than $1 million worth of cash and gifts, including a resort house and free lunch buffets for life.
The 24-year-old’s wins in the men’s floor exercise and vault were the largest victory ever by a Filipino athlete since the Philippines joined the Games a century ago. Two Filipino boxers, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, won bronze medals in women’s boxing in Paris.
The euphoria over Yulo’s wins has provided a respite for a nation long ridden with poverty, deep divisions and conflicts.
“Filipinos all over the world stood united, cheering and rooting for you,” Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said after Yulo, fondly called Caloy by friends, captured his second Olympic gold. “No words can express how proud we are of you, Caloy. You have achieved GOLD for the Philippines, not once, but twice!”
Arriving in Manila, Yulo and the other Filipino athletes who participated in the Olympics were welcomed by flag-waving admirers who yelled his name, reached out for handshakes and took selfies. The athletes were met by their families before proceeding to the Malacanang palace, where Marcos would honor them with medals and cash gifts, officials said.
Cash and gifts pledged by the government, business tycoons and leading Philippine corporations for Yulo, including a condominium unit and a resort house south of Manila, would amount to more than 58 million pesos ($1 million). Prominent companies offered free pizzas, ice cream and lunch and dinner buffets for life.
Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, who rose to global fame for winning titles in eight different weight classes and for his rags-to-riches life story, promised to reward Yulo with an unspecified amount of cash.
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A celebratory parade for Yulo and the other athletes on Wednesday along Manila’s main streets is expected to draw thousands of people. It will pass near a poor community where he grew up and first trained in gymnastics with his siblings in a public gym, where a coach first noticed the impressive skills of the then-7-year-old.
“I’ll welcome him with a hug and we’ll jump together in joy,” Rodrigo Frisco, a 74-year-old relative, told The Associated Press in the neighborhood where the gold medalist has become a poster boy for hope. “Who would believe that these narrow alleys and small houses would produce a champion?”
Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz clinched the first-ever Olympic gold for the Philippines in Tokyo in 2021.