MANILA, Philippines —While honored to receive the highest honor of the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Awards, Carlos Yulo expressed his joy in sharing the achievement with Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala.
The Paris Olympics double gold medalist arrived solo at the ceremony, wearing an all-beige suit—and shared that he was glad to witness more Filipino athletes being recognized.
“I am just really grateful and happy that there are a lot of athletes that are fighting for the flag, and I am very proud of all the athletes tonight,” Yulo said in Monday night’s festivities at the Diamond Hotel.
“There should be plenty of us. We should be continuing the spirit of the Filipino,” he added. For 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 25-year-old Yulo receives the Athlete of the Year award for the second consecutive year, while the 20-year-old Eala earns the prestigious honor for the first time.
“I am so excited to meet her (Eala) soon. Ask her for some advice, I have met her before but it was before Olympics, then of course she’s really busy. Also ask for some courage, we’re different athletes, we face different challenges,” he added.
Yulo also shared that one way for him to ground himself is by asking for advice from world-class athletes.
“I always ask for advice from Hidilyn Diaz, EJ Obiena, and Nesthy Petecio… I learned a lot from them, and of course, all our Olympic athletes, they all have their own stories. They all inspire me and remind me to put in that work.
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 as he bagged his fourth straight gold medal in the floor exercise, and racked bronze medals in the parallel bars, vault, and individual all-around events.
The Manila-born gymnast made a comeback in the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Indonesia, and bested his foes after a gold finish in the vault, and added a bronze medal in the floor exercise.
Eala’s rise to tennis is unstoppable as she cracked into the Top 40 of the WTA world rankings after her impressive run in the 2026 Philippine Women’s Open, 2026 Abu Dhabi Open, and 2026 Qatar Open.
The tennis star is currently competing in the 2026 Dubai Championships, possibly reaching a new career-high.