Carlos Yulo didn’t just overcome an elite cast of gymnasts on his way to a historic gold medal for the Philippines in the men’s all-around event of the Paris Olympics late Saturday at the Bercy Arena in the French capital.

He also had to survive a chaotic turn of events that had been quietly simmering underneath for the past couple of years leading to the biggest and most prestigious athletic conclave in the world.

A prominent insider in the local gymnastics community reached out to DAILY TRIBUNE at high noon on Sunday, lauding Yulo for his golden feat that he achieved despite being bothered by quite a number of personal and professional issues.

The source, for one, admitted that Yulo has been at odds with his family for more than a year, making it harder to stay focused on his buildup for the Summer Games.

But the cause of their feud wasn’t about money, contrary to speculations that surfaced on social media on Sunday morning.

“Contrary to what they say in social media, it wasn’t about money. Money wasn’t the reason behind the family feud that has already been an open secret to all of us in the gymnastics community,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue.

“It was a personal problem — a family problem — in fact.”

The source begged off from revealing further details in deference to the Yulo family, but stressed that his parents — Angelica and Andrew — love their son so much that they were overflowing with pride seeing him win the country’s second Olympic gold medal that came exactly 100 years since the Filipinos started participating in the Games.

Using routines that he knew by heart and by mind, Yulo dazzled the judges en route to posting an impressive 15.000 points while reigning world champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel settled for the silver medal with 14.966 points and Filipino-British Jake Jarman secured bronze with 14.933 points.

Yulo said he went all out in the finals using the routines that he practiced during the long course of his gymnastics career.

“I actually adjusted my D-Score (difficulty score) in the qualification to qualify safely because it was (an) all-around (event),” Yulo said shortly after being crowned as the king of floor exercise of the Summer Games.

“But on the actual final, I just went for it. I did not hesitate and, I don’t know, I kinda did it today. I’m really grateful.”

Coach-less Caloy

The source said Yulo really worked hard to set the stage for his crowning moment.

In fact, since splitting with his longtime coach in Japanese Munehiro Kugimiya in September last year, Yulo had been campaigning without an actual coach.

Although he was being helped by Aldrin Castañeda — his coach during his junior days — he is still the one calling the shots, making sure that the program of his former Japanese mentor is being executed to the letter.

“You really have to admire Caloy because he was on his own since he parted ways with Coach Mune (Kugimiya),” the source said.

“Caloy, however, was still using the program given to him by Coach Mune. He will just ask Coach Aldrin or anybody from the federation to criticize or check if he’s doing it right. But for the most part of his Olympic buildup, he was on his own, and it’s something that we truly admire.”

“You can see the mental toughness of this boy. Remember that he has been in training and studying in Japan since he was 14 or 15 years old so he’s really independent. He knows what he wants and he knows how to get it.”

Without Kugimiya, Yulo trained with various national teams, including that of Great Britain and South Korea before reuniting with Castañeda to apply finishing touches on his buildup.

“I’m grateful for the people who really supported me,” said Yulo, who spent the last few weeks of his training in Metz, France.

“I could not do it without them.”