Carlos Yulo will return home with two gold medals from the Asian Games men's artistic gymnastics competition, adding to one of the most decorated résumés in Philippine sports.
The two-time Olympic champion, three-time world champion, 12-time Asian champion, and nine-time Southeastern Games gold medalist won back-to-back Asian Games titles in his signature events, the floor exercise and vault, at Nagoya General Gymnasium.
No Filipino gymnast had previously won a medal of any color at an Asian Games.
The 26-year-old opened his gold-medal haul by topping the individual floor exercise with a 14.666 finish on Thursday, giving the Philippines its first gold medal at these Asian Games.
Yulo edged Kazakhstan's Milad Karimi and Japan's Shoma Tsukiyama to capture the floor exercise crown.
He completed his double-gold haul on Friday, in the men's individual vault, averaging 14.599 to finish ahead of Iran's Mahdi Olfati (14.533) and Hong Kong's Ka Ki Ng (14.166).
Yulo posted 14.733 on his first vault and 14.465 on his second to secure his second crown.
The double-gold feat mirrored his performance at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, where he also struck gold in the floor exercise and vault.
"God has given me so many miracles, one after another," Yulo said in Filipino on One Sports.
"I really don't know what to say. I'm just so happy with my performances.
"Even I can't believe it happened that way. I'm just really glad that I showed up."
The road to his second Asian Games title was not straightforward.
Yulo opened the vault qualification round with 13.166 after a bad landing on his first attempt, but bounced back with 14.133 on his second for a 13.649 average, good for seventh place and a spot in the final.
His compatriot Miguel Besana also reached the vault final, finishing fifth with 13.783.
"I am just glad to be able to walk away without major injuries and to land both vaults," Besana, a 2023 SEA Games champion, said.
"This was definitely a tough competition. We saw multiple Olympians in the field, and being able to compete against them was a good challenge, so I know the mistakes I've made and the upgrades I need to take for the next competition."
Yulo capped his historic Asian Games campaign with a fourth-place finish in the parallel bars, narrowly missing a third medal.
He scored 14.300, just 0.133 points behind bronze medalist Rasuljon Abdurakhimov. His final mark was slightly higher than his 14.266 score in the qualification round.
China's Zou Jingyan claimed the parallel bars gold with 15.500, followed by Japan's Shinnosuke Oka with 14.500 and Abdurakhimov with 14.433.
Despite missing the podium, Yulo said he was able to enjoy his final routine without the pressure that accompanied his earlier events.
"I was just enjoying it," he said.
"I wasn't thinking about anything anymore, and I wasn't stressed at all.
"I felt like my movements were fluid, and I almost made a mistake on my dismount, but I was still able to save it."
Yulo's historic campaign also saw him share the competition floor with his younger brother, Karl Yulo, who claimed bronze in the horizontal bar final in his Asian Games debut.
The brothers' two golds and one bronze took the Philippines' medal haul to nine -- two gold, two silver, and five bronze.
