ANOTHER YULO RISES
The affinity between Carlos Yulo and his younger brother Karl Eldrew goes beyond blood or body type—or Korean bowl haircuts.
They’re also both gymnastics royalty.
Carlos, of course, is the more accomplished of the two, having won two Olympic gold medals in Paris last year, not just with his skill, but with the preternatural ability to shut down the noise surrounding him until all that is left in the venue is him and whatever apparatus he is trying to master.
Karl Eldrew hopes to be as successful in his sport, too. And he does it with a personality of his own: He is more expressive, looking to the crowd before and after his routines.
Maybe it’s his relative youth.
At one point, he pointed to his compatriots during the opening day of the 2025 Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championship at Newport Resorts Hotel on Thursday night.
Carlos noticed it briefly.
“I didn’t see it much because I’m watching the other gymnasts as well, but if [doing these things] helps [his performance], there’s no problem,” Carlos said.
The older Yulo hopes, though, that Karl Eldrew will tone down the act a bit.
“[I]f he gets distracted because of what he does, I advise him not to do it. Just focus on what’s in front of you, because we all have different styles,” Carlos said.
So far, Karl Eldrew’s enthusiasm hasn’t seemed to dampen his performance at all. In fact, his energy pushed him to four event finals in the global competition.
The Adamson standout reached the final of the all-around, but is faced with a lot of ground to cover after finishing with 78.332 points for 15th place.
Aside from that, Karl Eldrew also qualified for the finals of the horizontal bar, floor exercise and vault categories.
Aside from aiming for the podium in those events, Karl Eldrew also has bigger plans for his career and he has announced plans to pause his schooling so he can focus on gymnastics.
“I plan on stopping after my senior high school,” he said. “I have to stop, to focus on my gymnastics career and learn Nihongo so I can speak with my coaches properly. I have to focus on myself and my career first.”
As someone who has been in the same situation on a much bigger scale, Carlos knows what his younger sibling will face. And he has more pointers for Karl Eldrew, especially for this tournament.
“Whatever he trained for in the past, he should keep doing those and focus more. In the finals, everyone is tired. So the battle will be mental,” the many-time world champion said. “For me, he should focus. He should think about what he does and just enjoy. The competition is already hard in itself, so he should enjoy the moment when he’s competing.”
Karl Eldrew takes on all-comers on Saturday when he competes in the all-around finals against 23 other competitors around the globe.
