Two-time world champion and now double Olympic gold medalist. By accomplishments and context, Carlos Yulo is a certified GOAT and the greatest Philippine Olympian, a title he might hold on to through our lifetime and the next.
In this era of hot takes and engagement farming, one topic of discussion is always a sure hit:
GOAT talk.
Discussing the greatest of all time in sports is always interesting, as you swear whoever the GOAT of your generation is the one true GOAT, period.
Even as we are in the middle of GOAT-level superstars in our current era, say like LeBron James, or Novak Djokovic, or Max Verstappen, or even John Cena while we’re at it, there’s true resistance to dispute the fact that no, these guys are actually not the GOATs of their respective sports.
[Related: History! Carlos Yulo bags Philippines' first-ever Olympic gold medal in floor exercise of Paris 2024]
The actual GOATs are Michael Jordan, Roger Federer, Lewis Hamilton, and The Rock.
You won’t have to look that hard to find people who are adamant that the true GOATs are actually Bill Russell, Serena Williams, Michael Schumacher, and Hulk Hogan.
GOAT talk is always a hit as it’s all subjective. There’s no one definitive metric to define who’s actually the greatest.
Do accomplishments count? Of course they do. But then you have to account to the context of every GOAT candidate’s respective eras.
[Related: Sleep-deprived Carlos Yulo pulls off golden performance in Paris 2024 vault]
And as there’s almost no way to stack up two GOATs head-to-head, save for a few exceptions, everything comes down to personal taste.
There’s practically no winning in GOAT talks, that’s why they are sure hit.
This rambling intro regarding GOAT stuff is all but a poor attempt to introduce a new GOAT candidate: now two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo.
[Related: Double delight for Carlos Yulo as he strikes gold a second time in vault in Paris 2024]
When this Philippine gymnastics dynamo won the gold medal for floor exercise in Paris 2024, he did what no Filipino man has done before.
24 hours and 59 minutes later, he did it again in vault.
[Related: “Hi, I’m a fan po” | How Golden Boy Carlos Yulo and GF Chloe San Jose met]
It took 96 Olympic years for the Philippines to win one gold medal, with the breakthrough victory courtesy of another GOAT athlete in Hidilyn Diaz.
As the Philippines sent its Centennial Team to Paris, Carlos Yulo lived up to his “Golden Boy” tag like no one could have imagined, single-handedly making sure that the country improved upon its record Tokyo 2020 haul.
Through our sporting history, we realized how difficult it is to win just one Olympic gold medal. On his second shot at the pinnacle of sporting competition, Carlos Yulo delivered two of them, in two different disciplines.
The accomplishments and context check out, if Carlos Yulo is not the greatest, the GOAT talk is broken.
[Related: The little gymnast the could: Carlos Yulo believed he can win in the Olympics, and then he did]
Stacking up Yulo’s accomplishments in gymnastics, in which he is a double world *and* Olympic champion, there will still be other GOATS ahead of him in his own sport.
But to put his amazing victories in perspective, he joins a list of only the most elite.
The likes of Manny Pacquiao, Efren “Bata” Reyes, and Hidilyn Diaz, Carlos Yulo belongs. In the Olympic context, no one will ever expect the Philippines to top the medal tally, that’s not how the Olympics work for most countries anyway.
But as recently as just 2016, it was hard to come in and see the Philippines even win a medal of any color.
[Related: Golden boy Carlos Yulo reveals fearless, strategic path to Olympic gold in Paris 2024]
In Rio and in Tokyo, GOAT Hidilyn Diaz opened the doors. In Paris, young Carlos Yulo smashed the floodgates in powerful and elegant fashion.
“Golden Boy” was no longer just a cool-sounding nickname. It’s now a well-deserved forever title.
[Related: 'Perfect moment': Golden boy Carlos Yulo bares raw emotions after historic gold medal finish in Paris 2024]
“Hindi ko ine-expect na ganun kalalabasan,” he said, in the aftermath of his second victory in the Olympics.
“Hindi talaga ako makapaniwala kanina.”
Better believe it. Carlos Yulo, you are the Greatest.