By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Office of President Ferdinand R. Marcos rewarded Carlos Yulo with an extra cash incentive of 20 million pesos after his record-setting performance during the recently concluded 2024 Paris Olympics.
Yulo, who became the first Filipino athlete to win two gold medals in the most prestigious Summer Global Games, was also widely recognized as a legendary figure in the sporting scene of the country.
The Office of the President’s 20-million incentive to Yulo was in line with the Republic Act 10699, known as the National Athletes, Coaches, and Trainers Benefits and Incentives Act.
Under RA 10699, all Filipino athletes who delivered a gold medal to the Philippines will receive a bonus of 10 million pesos.
After winning the floor exercise and the men’s vault events in the Olympic artistic gymnastics, the Office of the President doubled his incentive, summing up to 20 million pesos.
With the pride and honor that Yulo was able to bring to the country, President Marcos also gave him the Presidential Medal of Merit.
During his pet event at the floor exercise, Yulo scored an impressive 15.000 tally which was more than enough for his first gold medal in the 2024 Olympics.
The 24-year-old Filipino gymnast had a strong start in his routine, completing all his set moves while securing successive perfect landings that drew loud cheers from the crowd.
After an end-to-end double dive in the remaining 30 seconds of his routine time, Yulo put the cherry on top after ending his run with a jaw-dropping three-and-a-half twist dismount capped off with a perfectly balanced landing.
Seconds after completing the twisting dismount, the Filipino bet shouted in joy and raised both of his arms in contentment with the degree of difficulty he had to put to impress the set of judges.
Meanwhile, in the men’s vault, Yulo hauled 15.116 points from the judges, capping off his routine with a flawless finish.
His impressive execution in the first vault garnered him a total of 15.433 points and immediately prepared to begin his routine in the second vault.
After a triple flip that highlighted his performance in the first vault, Yulo tried something new for his final run and chose to execute a piked double front half-out move that secured his second gold in two days.
The judges gave Yulo a score of 14.800 in the second vault, edging Artur Davytan of Armenia who won the silver medal and Harry Hepworth of Britain who brought home the bronze.
