Nagtaas na ng white flag ang Gymnatics Association of the Philippines sa paglalaro ng 17-anyos pa lang pero tigasing si Carlos Edriel ‘Caloy’ Yulo sa 29th Southeast Asian Games sa August 19-31 sa Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Inihayag ni Team Pilipinas chef de mission at GAP president Cynthia Carrion-Norton ang pag-deny ng Malaysian Southeast Asian Games Organizing Committee sa apela nilang payagang makalaro si Yulo sa kabila na kulang pa ito sa age requirement na 18 taon.
“We wrote the SEA Games organizers and even the international governing body together with some other countries because they also have outstanding gymnasts who are still juniors. We had provisions that we can send junior athletes other than those competing elites,” esplika ni Carrion.
“But our request, even if there was also a letter coming from the International Gymnastic Federation to bring in one junior gymnast for the SEA Games, was turned down by the SEAG organizers,” hirit ng sports official.
Laking panghihinayang niya sa nalagas na posibilidad na pitong medalyang ginto ni Yulo na sa 2019 SEAG pa makakalaro kapag nag-host ulit ng biennial meet ang bansa.
“We could have a very good chance of having seven golds but then we will just have to wait for the next SEA Games for Caloy to compete,” panapos ni Carrion.