Bond of brothers
NAGOYA—Carlos and Karl Eldrew Yulo once sharpened their craft as young dreamers in Japanese gyms.
The brothers returned here carrying a shared mission.
Here, in the Asian Games, the brothers find themselves as not just competitors, but as teammates who push each other to greater heights.
“I’m glad that I have someone to run to [when I need to ask about] techniques because he (Eldrew) has a lot to share when it comes to his own techniques,” said Carlo, the more accomplished of the two brothers.
Carlos arrived at the 20th Asiad here with the weight of expectation, having won two Olympic gold medals and owning several world championships and Asian titles.
Interestingly, the one medal that still eludes the 26-year-old Carlos is the Asiad gold.
He is determined to claim it this year, with a little help from Eldrew.
The Yulo siblings missed the podium of the men’s individual all-around, but Carlos has a shot at gold at three of his favorite apparatuses—vault, floor exercise and parallel bars, whose finals will be played on Thursday and Friday.
Carlos opened his campaign by topping the floor exercise with a commanding 14.600, but struggled in the vault and horizontal bar. He won golds in the 2024 Paris Olympics in the floor and vault.
His first vault attempt faltered and he needed to recover on his second vault to stay in contention. Eldrew, younger and still carving his own path, posted higher scores in both the vault and the horizontal bar.
“Eldrew is much better than I am in the high bar,” Carlos admitted. “And if someone is better than you, you have to ask advice from that person to level up your game. We can’t be afraid to ask others if there are things that we want to learn, especially among top-level gymnasts.”
Eldrew earned final spots in the floor exercise and the high bar, the apparatus where he continues to shine. Juancho Miguel Besana also made the floor final.
Eldrew finished fourth in the floor classification with a score of 13.966 points.
Team Philippines, which is also composed of Justine Ace De Leon and Zachary Nunez, advanced to the men’s team finals after finishing sixth overall in qualification.
“This (the Games) is where I plan to give everything and pour out all my energy and good vibes,” said Eldrew.
Their performances in the all-around qualification reflected both their individual journeys and their shared evolution even though they missed the podium of the event.
“I wasn’t able to bring out what I prepared for … I learned so many things that I can take with me in the following days,” Carlos said.
In the all-around, Eldrew finished seventh with 77.264 points, while Carlos placed ninth with 75.465. China’s Zhang Boheng struck gold, with Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka and Daiki Hashimoto completing the podium.
But the Yulo brothers believe their real impact will come in the apparatus finals.
“There are still finals to compete in; there are still chances to win a medal,” Carlos said.
He won’t say what those chances are, but if he ever needs anything to boost those odds, brother Eldrew will always be there to lend a hand.
