San Jose Buenavista, Antique – Young gymnast Karl Eldrew Yulo accomplished what his elder brother did not when he was just starting out.
The nine-year-old Yulo not only won the first gold medal in the 2017 Palarong Pambansa at the start of the elementary boys men’s artistic gymnastics at the Evelio B. Javier gymnasium here.
It was also his first-ever top finish in his young career as he also led the National Capital Region to its first gold medal at the start of the eight-day meet.
It was the first time that organizers give away medals in the Palaro, two days ahead of the first batch of formal competitions like athletics, boxing, taekwondo, basketball and volleyball, which will mostly commence on Monday.
“Idol ko po si kuya eh,” said Karl after his successful effort to follow the footsteps of Carlos Yulo.
His elder brother, Carlos, who successfully landed an international podium finish as he bagged the all-around junior bronze in the Mikhail Voronin Cup, is now a member of the national team and currently training in Japan.
Yulo, a fourth grader at Aurora Quezon Elementary School, went on to rule cluster 2 (9 years old), by topping the floor exercises, the mushroom and the vault competitions of the individual all-around events.
He then towed teammates Joseph Reynado and Renz Castillo to first place in the team with 92.55 points
Gymnasts from Region 5(Bicol) and Region XII(Socsargen) were second and third in the team with 96.3 and 88.15.
Karl said his elder was his inspiration as he got the highest score in the pommel horse with 9.35 points. His rival Rommel Liwa of Region 12 had 8.95 in second.
His feat was two of four golds won by NCR that morning.
Teammates Divina Sembrano and Krystal Mae Maguidato followed suit with a 1-2 finish in the individual all-around event of the Rhythmic Gymnastics secondary girls meet.
They helped NCR earn 113.26 points and take charge of the team action, with Region 7 (Central Visayas) closed behind with 100.38m followed by Region V with 82.9.
NCR took the team honors with 107.5 points in the team event of the elementary girls section. But Bacolod’s Kiana Alagaban of the Negros Region outpointed Metro Manila bet Breanna Labadan for the gold (39.79-39.4) in the individual all around.