Courtesy: Carlos Edriel Yulo
Carlos and Eldrew Yulo are set for their first Asian Games campaign together as the highly-decorated siblings lead the Philippine gymnastics team in September.
The 2026 Asiad in Aichi-Nagoya in Japan will be the second for the 26-year old Carlos, who made his senior debut at the 2018 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia. There, he finished fourth in men’s vault and seventh in floor exercise.
Six years later, Carlos became the first Filipino male athlete to win two gold medals in a single Summer Olympics by topping the men’s floor exercise and vault events of the 2024 Paris Games gymnastics competition.
His younger brother, 18-year old Eldrew, meanwhile, will be debuting in the continental showpiece following his move to the senior division earlier this year.
He won the floor exercise gold at the FIG Apparatus World Cup Antalya and a pair of bronzes in the Cairo leg to start his senior career.
The Yulos shared the podium for the first time last June at the 13th Senior Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Zunyi, China, with Carlos claiming the floor exercise gold and Eldrew claiming the bronze in the same event.
Joining them in the men’s artistic team are SEA Games medalists Juancho Miguel Besana and Justine Ace De Leon plus Zachary Cortins Nuñez.
The Philippines will also field a strong women’s artistic squad led by Paris Olympian Levi Jung-Ruvivar and World Championships qualifier Haylee Garcia. Kylee Kvamme, Chiara Dawn Andrew, and Lauren Supnet complete the team.
Meanwhile, Breanna Labadan and Jasmine Ramilo are entered in rhythmic gymnastics while Jerry Ilano Jr. and Luvicar Janine Padilla will compete in the men’s and women’s trampoline gymnastics, respectively.
In 75 years of participation, no Filipino gymnast had ever won a medal of any color at the Asian Games since the inaugural event in 1951 in New Delhi, India.
But beyond their medal quest, this year’s Asiad will play an important step in the country’s qualification to the World Cup series, which will serve as one of the pathways leading to the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
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