President Ferdinand R. Marcos confers the Presidential Medal of Merit to the first-ever Olympic double gold medalist, Carlos Edriel Yulo, and gave a cash incentive worth P20 million from the Office President on August 13, 2024, during the Philippine Olympic team's courtesy call at Malacanang Palace. Yummie Dingding, PPA pool/File
MANILA -- After a year like no other, the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) will be honored as the National Sports Association of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association.
The 62-year-old federation was one of the driving forces behind gymnast Carlos Yulo's historic campaign in the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he won two gold medals.
The 24-year-old gymnast from Leveriza, Manila emerged winner in his two pet events – the men's vault and floor exercise – to become the first Filipino athlete to win multiple medals in a single Games.
Yulo's feats were not the only highlights of 2024 for GAP.
History was made when the stunning trio of Aleah Finnegan, Emma Malabuyo, and Levi Jung-Ruivivar also represented the country in the 33rd edition of the Summer Games. It marked the first time in 60 years that Filipina gymnasts participated in the quadrennial showcase since Evelyn Magluyan and Maria Luisa Floro wore the country's tri-colors in the 1964 Tokyo Olympics.
GAP is the overwhelming choice for NSA of the Year, and they will have their turn in the spotlight in the San Miguel Corporation-Philippine Sportswriters Association (SMC-PSA) Awards Night at the grand ballroom of the Manila Hotel on January 27.
Yulo has previously been named the recipient of the Athlete of the Year honor.
READ: After historic Paris campaign, Carlos Yulo named PSA Athlete of the Year
READ: How Carlos Yulo was built into an Olympic champion
This is the first time the gymnastics association under the loving care of its president Cynthia Carrion, is being recognized as NSA of the Year by the oldest media organization in the Philippines first established in 1949 and currently headed by The Philippine Star sports editor Nelson Beltran.
Previous recipients of the award include the Samahang Weightlifting ng Pilipinas, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, Association of Boxing Alliances in the Philippines, Jiu Jitsu Federation of the Philippines, Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association, Philippine Taekwondo Association, among others.
It wasn't only in the Olympics that Filipino gymnasts shone.
Yulo was just as dominant in the continental campaign, collaring four golds in the Men's Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, while copping a gold and silver in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series in Qatar, where Ruivivar also bagged a silver as the two Filipinos earned tickets to the Paris Olympics.
Malabuyo struck a gold and a bronze in the Women's Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships also in Uzbekistan to formalize her first ever Olympic stint.
Another Yulo in Karl Eldrew made his presence felt as well, bagging the gold in the juniors division of the same Tashkent tournament. The younger brother of Carlos Yulo likewise won golds in the Pacific Rim Championship in Cali, Colombia, and in the Chiu Wai Chung Cup in Hong Kong just before 2024 ended.
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