PSA Hails Carlos Yulo As 2024 Athlete of the Year

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

It’s not even close.

After making history as the first-ever Filipino to win two gold medals in the Olympics, Carlos Yulo added another prestigious feat when the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) named him as the 2024 Athlete of the Year announced on January 2, 2025.

Nelson Beltran, the current PSA president and the sports editor of The Philippine Star, confirmed the most prestigious trophy to be awarded in the upcoming gala night on January 27, 2025, at the Centennial Hall of the Manila Hotel.

“From a great Olympic performance to an even greater Olympic show, and from one big breakthrough to an even bigger breakthrough, thanks to Carlos Yulo whose giant feat we will celebrate in handing him our highest accolades,” said Beltran.

In retrospect, Yulo made one of the most flawless gymnastics campaigns in the Global Summer Games after copping the gold medals in the men’s vault and floor exercise events.

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.