By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) President Cynthia Carrion is hopeful the national team would do well in the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships that the country is hosting starting Nov. 20 to 24.
Carrion is pinning her hopes on promising star Karl Eldrew Yulo to spearhead the local crew as they battle 73 other nations which have all been accounted for the four-day competition slated at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay City.
“They’ve been training really hard,” said Carrion in Tuesday’s Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.
Also competing for Team PH are Hilario Palles III, Anthony Palles and CJ Pernia, as well as female gymnasts Sabina Tayag, Maxine Bondoc, Jellian Bantilan and Elisabeth Antone.
The 17-year-old Yulo won the vault gold medal at the 2024 Junior Asian Championships, as well as the vault silver in the 2023 Singapore and 2025 Incheon editions.
“I think he’s ready. You should see his performance for his age. I’m very proud of him,” said Carrion.
Antone is also a promising gymnast, having won bronze medals in individual all-around and vault at the 2025 Junior Asian Championships.
The tournament serves as a springboard for Olympic hopefuls in the 2028 Los Angeles Games.
Launched in 2019, the event produced athletes such as multiple Olympic gold medalist Oka Shinnosuke of Japan, 2020 Tokyo Olympics champion Guan Chenchen, Colombia’s Angel Barajas, who won the country’s first Olympic medal in gymnastics in the 2024 Paris Games, and Hezley Rivera, a member of the gold-medal winning US women’s team at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
