In an exclusive interview with MediaQuest and other MVP media group of companies, Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) President Cynthia Carrion shared how Filipino businessman and avid sports patron Manny V. Pangilinan (MVP) helped Carlos Yulo achieve his dreams in gymnastics.
“MVP is our hero,” Carrion stressed in the interview last August 15, 2024.
According to her, she became a “professional beggar” to find funds to support the then young Yulo.
“It was when I found out what he’s really worth [it], because I saw that he could be a champion at something. His coach or the Japanese was going to abroad already leave the Philippines. And I knew that they, they work together quite well,” she said.
“So I said, what will happen? I need money for him to follow the coach. It’s expensive.
His schooling, his training, his everything. The Gymnastics Association at that time didn’t have the money, neither, did the Philippine Olympic Committee and the Philippine Sports Commission,” she added.
She then asked a favor to PBA chairman Ricky Vargas to connect her to MVP hoping that he would provide funding for Yulo.
“I went to Ricky Vargas. Vargas listened to me and I told him, Ricky, I promise you someday he will win a gold medal, give me the money! So they said, okay, okay, okay.
He said I’ll talk to Manny Pangilinan, and Manny Pangilinan came through. We signed the contract, and he was giving us money all the time,” she shared.
Carrion also mentioned that one of the first telephone calls she got was from Manny Pangilinan after Yulo won the gold medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Pangilinan recently said that they “never doubted for a second” Yulo’s talent and dedication to win a medal at the Olympics.
