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#pounditThursday, November 14, 2024

Filipino Olympic gold medalist’s funny list of incentives goes viral

Filipino Carlos Yulo holding his gold medal at the Paris Olympics

Aug 4, 2024; Paris, France; Carlos Edriel Yulo of the Philippines celebrates after winning the gold medal for vault on the second day of gymnastics event finals during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Bercy Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jack Gruber-USA TODAY Sports

The Philippines entered the 2024 Summer Games in Paris with just one gold in the country’s 100 years of participating in the Olympics. One diminutive man tripled the nation’s total in a matter of two days, and he rewarded handsomely for it.

Carlos Yulo, a 4’11” Olympic men’s gymnast, carried the Philippines on his back with two gold medals at the Paris Games.

On Saturday, the 24-year-old won gold in the men’s floor exercise with a score of 15.000 in the final.

After becoming the first Filipino male to ever stand in the middle of an Olympic podium, Yulo did it again just one day later. The man endearingly referred to as “Caloy” decisively won the individual men’s vault final. He was once again the only athlete to breach the 15-point mark in the event.

Yulo’s back-to-back gold medals sent Filipino fans into a frenzy on social media.

A lot of fans also obsessed over the insane amount of incentives Yulo earned from winning Olympic gold. Apart from a financial windfall worth tens of millions of Philippine pesos from both the local government and private firms, Caloy was also promised a condo unit worth an estimated $414,000. The condo was initially a two-bedroom unit but got upgraded to three bedrooms when he won a second medal. That’s one way to boost your real estate portfolio.

The list even includes smaller prizes such as a voucher worth around $20,000 to spend in a department store, unlimited entry at a local buffet chain, and a lifetime supply of ramen. The last one doesn’t exactly go well with one of his more peculiar incentives — unlimited colonoscopies and gastroenterology consultations.

The Philippines joined Japan, China, and the United States as the only countries with multiple gold medals in gymnastics at the Paris Olympics. The difference is that the latter three countries have already combined for over 150 Olympic medals in the 2024 games and counting. Yulo has the only two medals for the Philippines thus far.

The Philippines earned its first gold medal in history during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Women’s weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz was the first Filipino Olympic athlete to achieve the feat.

Yulo likely has his sights set for more Olympic glory at the 2028 games in Los Angeles. Hopefully he doesn’t eat too much unlimited ramen before then.

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