Two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo has conquered nearly every major stage, but one medal is missing from his remarkable résumé: Asian Games gold.
Yulo gets another chance to fill that gap when he headlines the Philippine gymnastics team at the 20th Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, where he will seek his first Asiad podium finish, with gold as the ultimate prize.
The 26-year-old already owns two Olympic gold medals from Paris 2024, in the men's floor event and vault, three world championship titles, 11 Asian championship gold medals and nine Southeast Asian Games titles.
But he has unfinished business in the Asian Games, after his lone previous appearance at the 2018 Asiad in Jakarta, where he finished fourth in vault and seventh in floor exercise as an 18 year old.
He skipped the 2023 Hangzhou edition to focus on the World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, and secured a qualification for the Paris Olympics.
Now, Yulo returns to the continental showcase as an Olympic champion and one of the Philippines' biggest medal hopes.
He will compete in the men's individual all-around in all six apparatus: Floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings, vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar (high bar), to be held at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium.
"I'm really giving more time now to the areas where I'm weak, especially the pommel horse and high bar," Yulo said in Filipino in an interview with 24 Oras on GMA News.
"Those are my weaknesses, and I hope I can get great results from them."
The challenge in Nagoya, however, will be considerably different from the stages where he has already established himself.
Japan is expected to field a formidable men's artistic gymnastics lineup led by Olympic champions Shinnosuke Oka and Daiki Hashimoto.
Yulo will also have to contend with China's mainstay, Zhang Boheng, the reigning men's all-around champion from Hangzhou.
The apparatus finals could provide Yulo's clearest opportunities to add an Asian Games medal to his collection, particularly in his signature floor exercise and vault events.
But the Olympic champion is not the only Yulo carrying Philippine hopes in Asiad gymnastics.
He will be joined by his younger brother, Karl Eldrew Yulo, who is set to make his Asian Games debut.
The 18-year-old enters the competition after winning a bronze medal in floor exercise at the 2026 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships, with the older Yulo winning gold.
"I'm really happy for my brother," Carlos Yulo said on GMA News.
"At his age, he still has so much ahead of him. He'll experience more success, but he'll also face plenty of challenges along the way."
The Philippine men's artistic gymnastics team is completed by Juancho Miguel Besana, Justine Ace de Leon and Zachary Nuñez.
Olympian Levi Ruivivar leads the women's artistic gymnastics squad featuring Kylee Kvamme, Chiara Dawn Andrew, Lauren Supnet and Haylee Garcia.
The Philippines will be represented in rhythmic gymnastics by Breanna Labadan and Jasmine Althea Romulo, and in trampoline gymnastics by Jerry Ilano Jr. and Luvicar Janine Padilla.
The 14-member delegation heads to Nagoya chasing history: No Filipino gymnast has finished on the podium at an Asian Games.
Philippines gymnastics delegation at the Asian Games
Artistic Gymnastics
Sept. 21: Men's All-Around Qualification
Sept. 22: Women's All-Around Qualification
Sept. 23: Men's and Women's Team Final
Sept. 24: Men's Final: Floor Exercise, Pommel Horse, Rings; Women's Final: Vault, Uneven Bars
Sept. 25: Men's Final: Vault, Parallel Bars, Horizontal Bar; Women's Final: Balance Beam, Floor Exercise
Trampoline Gymnastics
Sept. 27: Men's and Women's Qualification, Final, and Super Final
Rhythmic Gymnastics
Oct. 1: Individual All-Around Qualification '
Oct. 3: Individual All-Around Final
