True to its mission of helping Filipino athletes in their quest to win the country's first ever Olympic gold medal, the MVP Sports Foundation (MVPSF) extended an additional funding of 800,000 pesos to 2019 World Champion gymnast Carlos Edriel "Caloy" Yulo.
The donation, which was given to the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP), the national governing body for the sport, will maintain the Japan-based Yulo's rent, academic schooling, and support team composed of a physiotherapist, nutritionist, and sports psychologist. Securing all these will allow Yulo to focus on his prolonged grind towards the Tokyo 2021 Olympics, which is set to be held next year from July 23 to August 8.
"The MVPSF wants to make sure that our athletes still get the best training possible even as we face the current COVID pandemic," said MVPSF President Al Panlilio. "Even with his busy schedule, our Chairman Manny V. Pangilinan makes it a point to check on our athletes and teams from time to time just to make sure all is well. We at MVPSF follow MVP's example and that's why we take great pride in taking care of our athletes."
"Aside from the financial relief from the additional funding, we're hopeful that this also puts Caloy's mind at ease because we wanted to show him that we're behind him all the way," Panlilio added. "His sole focus should be on his quest to win an Olympic medal and we'll do our best to take care of the rest."
"We are so grateful to the MVP Sports Foundation for their continued support for Caloy. They (MVPSF) have been with us since 2017, which shows they believed in us from the start," said GAP President Cynthia Carrion.
Yulo, who has been training in Japan since 2016 under the tutelage of Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya, is seen as one of the country's top medal bets for the Tokyo Olympics.
After winning gold in the Boys' Parallel Bars despite having an injured ankle at the 14th Junior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships held in Bangkok, Yulo began competing at the seniors level.
In 2018, Yulo won the bronze medal in the Men's Floor Exercise at the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Doha to be the first ever Filipino and also the first ever Southeast Asian to win a medal in the said event.
In the 2019 edition of the World Championships held in Stuttgart, Yulo rose to greater heights as he won the gold in the Men's Floor Exercise to become the first ever Filipino to be crowned a world gymnastics champion. It was also here that Yulo booked his ticket to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after advancing to the final round of the All-Around event.
Yulo was given a cash incentive of P1,000,000 by MVPSF for his historic feat.
The 4-foot-11 gymnast then showcased his brilliance on home soil as he claimed seven medals at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games. Yulo struck gold in the All-Around and Floor Exercise events, and silver in the Pommel Horse, Still Rings, Vault, Parallel Bars, and Horizontal Bars at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum in Manila.
The 20-year-old Yulo is one of the country's top medal prospects in the upcoming Olympics alongside his fellow MVPSF athletes in weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, boxers Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno, and skateboarder Margielyn Didal.