(UPDATE) TWO-TIME Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo and tennis phenom Alexandra “Alex” Eala have been named Male and Female Athletes of the Year by the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA).
It is the first time in 22 years the PSA has named co-Athletes of the Year since boxing legend Manny Pacquiao and golfer Jennifer Rosales in 2004.
The PSA awards night will be on Feb. 16.
The 25-year-old Yulo receives the Athlete of the Year award for the second straight year, and Eala for the first time.
After Yulo’s historic double in the 2024 Paris Olympics, the gymnast flaunted his form once more in the 2025 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in South Korea, clinching his fourth straight gold medal in the floor exercise and taking bronze medals in the parallel bars, vault and individual all-around events.
Yulo made a comeback in the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Indonesia, and taking the gold in the vault, and a bronze in the floor exercise.
Just 20 years old, Eala has established herself as one the rising stars in women’s tennis. The first Filipina to join the world’s top 50 women’s players as ranked by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA).
She is currently ranked 49th after beating Donna Vekic in the 2026 ASB Classic in Auckland, New Zealand, this month.
Eala made a spectacular run at the Miami Open, where she entered the WTA 1000 event as a wild card ranked No. 140.
She introduced herself in the tennis world in a dominant fashion after defeating: former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, reigning Australian Open champion and world No. 5 Madison Keys in the third round, and five-time Grand Slam champion and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.
Her run ended in the semifinals with a loss to American Jessica Pegula.
Eala went on to become the first Filipino in the Open era to compete in the Wimbledon singles main draw, won her first WTA singles title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico and achieved another milestone by becoming the first Filipino in the Open era to win a singles match at the US Open after defeating 14th seed Clara Tauson.
Eala ended the 22-year wait for the nation in the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand after winning the women’s singles gold medal.
“Their exemplary performances on the international stage, and more importantly, the way they have inspired countless young athletes to chase their own path for greatness, are enough reasons to crown both Alex and Carlos as the year’s top performers in sports,” said PSA President Francis Ochoa, sports editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.