Carlos Edriel Poquiz Yulo (born February 16, 2000) is a Filipino artistic gymnast. He is the 2024 Olympic floor exercise and vault champion. Yulo is the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win multiple gold medals in the history of the Olympic Games. He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to medal at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his floor exercise bronze medal finish in 2018, as well as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to achieve a gold medal finish for the same criteria in 2019 at the same event. With multiple medals on the international stage, Yulo is the second person to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines.
Yulo is a two-time Olympic champion, a three-time World champion, an eleven-time Asian champion, and a nine-time SEA Games champion. He is noted for his short stature compared to other male gymnasts, his precision in form, and the difficulty of his routines, especially in the floor exercise, vault, and parallel bars.
Yulo was born on February 16, 2000 to Mark Andrew Yulo, a travel agent liaison, and Angelica Yulo (née Poquiz), a homemaker, in Manila, Philippines. His maternal grandmother is Angelita Poquiz, and he lived along Leveriza Street, Malate. He is the second of four siblings. His older sister, Joriel, is a member of the National University Pep Squad, and his younger siblings, Karl Jahrel Eldrew and Elaiza Andriel, are also gymnasts. Yulo grew up watching Filipino gymnasts train and compete at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex in Malate. Yulo started training for gymnastics when he was seven years old, when his grandfather, Rodrigo Frisco, saw him tumbling at a local playground and brought him to the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) for training. He would also train at the Club Gymnastica in Kapitolyo, Pasig in his early years.
Yulo attended Aurora A. Quezon Elementary School in Malate, Manila for his primary education, where he was already training under AQES teacher-coach Ezra Canlas, for the Philippine National Games as part of the National Capital Region's gymnastics team. Through the support of the GAP, he was able to attend Adamson University in Ermita for his secondary education.
In 2016, Yulo accepted an offer by the Japan Olympic Association to train in Japan under a scholarship program. After moving to Japan, Yulo continued his education at Teikyo University in Itabashi, Tokyo, and graduated in 2022 with an associated degree in literature.
Yulo started competing in 2008, and joined his first Palarong Pambansa in 2009 in Tacloban, Leyte. On May 1, he was part of the National Capital Region's gold medal winning elementary team, finishing with a score of 79.35 and placed fifth in the individual all-around with a score of 26.15. The following day, he won the silver medal in the floor exercise, with a score of 13.325 with Marc Capistrano of Calabarzon taking first. Yulo stated that his second and fifth place finishes encouraged him to train harder for his next Palarong Pambansa.
In 2010, Yulo competed in the Palarong Pambansa in Tarlac City, Tarlac, and took part in every event. He won gold in the individual all-around and floor exercise, and got bronze in the vault. He was also part of the men's team, where they placed fifth. The following year, he competed in the same competition in Dapitan, Zamboanga del Norte. He earned gold medals in the team event, individual all-around, floor-exercise, and vault. In the same year, he competed in his first Philippine National Games at the 2011 edition held in Bacolod, Negros Occidental, where he earned three gold medals in the floor exercise, rings, and parallel bars.
In 2012, he competed in the Palarong Pambansa in Lingayen, Pangasinan, and took part in every event. He won the gold in the individual all-around, floor exercise, and vault, as well as the team competition along with his teammates. The same year, he went to China alongside gymnast Jan Gwynn Timbang, for training after a sponsorship by the Philippine Good Works Mission Foundation given to the GAP. The training served as a bid for them to qualify for the 2014 Youth Olympics in Nanjing, China.
In 2013, Yulo competed in his last Palarong Pambansa, which was held in Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental. He won golds in the team event, individual all-around, and floor exercise, and took a silver in the vault behind Martoni Abana. In the same year, Yulo met his eventual coach, Munehiro Kugimiya, when Japanese trainers went to the Philippines to help train the national team.
As a junior, he was coached by Aldrin Castañeda. Yulo won gold medals on the floor exercise and the parallel bars at the 2014 ASEAN School Games. He then competed at the 2014 Pacific Rim Championships, finished sixth on the floor exercise and eighth on the vault. In 2015, he competed at the International Junior Competition held in Yokohama, Japan, and won a bronze medal in the vault final behind Youth Olympic medalists Giarnni Regini-Moran and Yue Ma.
In 2016, Kugimiya became Yulo's coach, and the MVP Sports Foundation started extending financial aid to his career the following year. He also received a scholarship from the International Gymnastics Federation to fund his move to Japan.
Yulo won five medals at the 2016 Pacific Rim Championships, gold on floor exercise and vault, silver on the still rings and parallel bars, and bronze in the all-around. Days before the 2017 Junior Asian Championships, he twisted his left ankle while training on the floor exercise. Despite the injury, he still competed, but he was limited to the still rings, pommel horse, and parallel bars. He qualified for the parallel bars final and won the gold medal. He only competed on the vault and floor exercise at the 2017 International Junior Competition because of a shoulder injury. He won the gold medal in the vault final and the silver medal in the floor exercise final.
2018: Senior international debut and first World Championship medal
Yulo made his senior international debut at the Melbourne World Cup and won a bronze medal on the vault. Then, at the Baku World Cup, he won a silver medal on the vault. At the Doha World Cup, he won a silver medal on the floor exercise — his third international medal in the span of one month. At the 2018 Philippine National Games, held in Cebu City, Cebu, he won every individual gold medal. At the 2018 Asian Games, he scored highest on the floor exercise in the qualification round. However, in the event final he fell on his third tumbling pass and finished seventh.
At the World Championships in Doha, Yulo advanced to the all-around and floor exercise finals, becoming the first Filipino gymnast to qualify for a World Championships final. He was the youngest of the 24 competitors in the all-around final, and he finished 23rd. He won bronze in the floor exercise, becoming the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to win a medal at the World Championships. After the World Championships, he competed at the Cottbus World Cup and won a bronze medal on the floor exercise after losing an execution score tiebreaker to Casimir Schmidt. In December, he won silver medals on the vault and parallel bars at the Toyota International.
Yulo began the 2019 season at the Melbourne World Cup where he won the gold medal on the floor exercise by 0.066 points. He missed the Baku World Cup due to a chest injury. He then won a bronze medal on the floor exercise at the Doha World Cup. At the Asian Championships, he placed fourth on the floor exercise and vault and seventh on the parallel bars. He tied for the gold medal on the floor exercise at the All-Japan Senior Championships with Kōhei Uchimura.
At the World Championships in Stuttgart, Yulo qualified for the all-around final and secured qualification to compete for the Philippines at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. He then placed tenth in the all-around final with a personal-best all-around total. In the floor exercise final, he won the gold medal, making history as the first Filipino and Southeast Asian world champion in artistic gymnastics. After his win, his below average height of 4 feet 11 inches (1.50 m) made him an example by the Senate of the Philippines as a "wake-up call for our government" to provide more support for sports where height is not considered as a determinative factor.