Carlos Yulo's lolo recalls Olympic champ's beginnings: 'Tumbling nang tumbling'

Before becoming the Olympic gold medalist he is today, Carlos Yulo was once a little boy who loved to tumble whenever he could.

In an "Unang Hirit" episode on Wednesday, Carlos’ grandfather Rodrigo "Boy" Frisco looked back on the Olympic champ’s humble beginnings.

“Doon sa may playground, may isang bata na naglalaro sa Palarong Pambansa na tumbling nang tumbling, ginagaya nila,” he recalled.

According to Boy, Carlos was around six or seven years old when he started to develop a love for tumbling. Later on, his young talent got a spotlight of its own.

“One time may competition doon sa Rizal Memorial, nandoon kami, kasama mga apo ko... Nanood lang kami. Hindi pa kami pinapapasok sa oval dahil maaga pa, tumbling sila nang tumbling doon. Bawat oras tumbling nang tumbling,” Boy shared.

“Habang naghihintay kami tumbling sila nang tumbling, pinababayaan ko lang. Nakita sila nung Team Philippines. 'Saan sila nagtetraining?' Tinanong ako... Sabi ko 'Dito lang, wala kaming formal training' Sabi niyang ganyan 'Dalhin mo sa gymnastics baka matanggap siya,’” he added.

He added that Carlos officially competed for the first time in 2007 at the Philippine Olympic Festival when he was eight years old after four months of training.

Carlos has won more than 300 medals since. Over 200 of these are gold medals, including the two Olympic gold medals he won recently at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Carlos bagged the gold medal for the vault finals at the Paris Games on Sunday evening.

This comes on the heels of Carlos’s historic gold medal victory in men’s floor exercise on Saturday, making him the first-ever Filipino to win two gold medals at the Olympics in Philippine history.

Several celebrities have shared their pride and joy for Carlos, including Vice Ganda, Vicki Belo, Michelle Dee, and Anne Curtis, among others.

— Jade Veronique Yap/CDC, GMA Integrated News