Carlos Yulo, other Filipino Olympians to be honored in Malacañang after Paris 2024

PRESIDENT Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos, Jr. will welcome two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo and 21 other Filipino athletes upon their return to the country, following the Philippines’ campaign for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

The Presidential Communications Office (PCO) said on Friday that Marcos will receive the Filipino Olympians at Malacañan Palace on Tuesday, August 13. The Summer Olympic Games will end on August 11 with a closing ceremony at Stade de France.

The athletes are expected to arrive in their homeland on Tuesday afternoon, where they will be met by their families at the Villamor Airbase in Pasay.

They will then head to the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC), where government officials will welcome them through a heroes’ parade traversing key areas in Manila until it reaches the Malacañan Palace. They will be greeted by Marcos, First Lady Louise Araneta-Marcos, and the First Family.

A special program will be held for the athletes to honor and give them their “well-deserved incentives” for their “extraordinary contributions to the Philippine sports and their stellar performance during the 2024 Paris Olympics,” said the PCO.

The Philippines now has four Olympic medals: two gold medals won by the 24-year-old gymnast and two bronze medals bagged by boxers Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio.

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 10699 or the National Athletes, Coaches and Trainers Benefits and Incentives Act, athletes who bring home medals in an individual event for Summer and Winter Olympic Games will receive cash incentives from the government:

• Gold medalist – P10,000,000
• Silver medalist – P5,000,000
• Bronze medalist – P2,000,000

With Yulo’s historic win as the country’s first two-time gold medalist in a single Olympic Games, several conglomerates and brands also offered him more incentives amounting to millions.

Olympics updates

Meanwhile, another Filipino athlete bowed out of the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Weightlifter Vanessa Sarno ended her Paris Olympics run early when she failed to lift 100kg for snatch at the women’s 71kg event after three attempts, registering a DNF (Did Not Finish).

Sarno’s brief Olympic debut ended the country’s weightlifting campaign in the Olympic Games, following John Ceniza’s DNF in the men’s weightlifting 61kg event and Elreen Ando’s sixth place finish in the women’s 59kg division.

Despite not winning the country a medal, Filipinos were proud of the athletes and thanked them for giving all their efforts to represent the Philippines.

Golfers Bianca Pagdanganan and Dottie Ardina will compete in the women’s individual stroke play final round on Saturday at 3 p.m. (Manila time).