Eala, Yulo share PSA Athlete of the Year honors

Two of the country’s hottest sports properties get to share center stage together in next month’s Philippine Sportswriters Association Annual Awards Night.

For carrying the Philippine flag high and mighty with their sterling achievements in the world stage in the year 2025, gymnastics’ golden boy Carlos Yulo and tennis sweetheart Alex Eala are going to be recognized as the male and female Athletes of the Year in the traditional sports gala by the country’s oldest media organization held in major partnership with San Miguel Corporation.

From chaotic Jakarta City, to Miami’s tropical beaches, all the way to the bright lights of New York, both Yulo and Eala left their respective imprints and proved Filipino athletes can truly excel.

The young and dynamic pair is on top of a long list of achievers to be honored during the affair originally slated on Feb. 2, but has since been moved to Feb. 16 due to unavoidable circumstances.

The venue remains at the Diamond Hotel Manila.

This marks the first time in 22 years the PSA named a male and female co-Athletes of the Year since legendary boxer Manny Pacquiao and golfer Jennifer Rosales shared the honor back in 2004.

Yulo, 25, earned the same recognition in 2024, while Eala, 20, is receiving her first.

“Their exemplary performances on the international stage, and more importantly, the way they have inspired countless young athletes to chase their own path for greatness, are enough reasons to crown both Alex and Carlos as the year’s top performers in sports,” said PSA President Francis Ochoa, sports editor of the Philippine Daily Inquirer.

Following his unprecedented double-golden feat in the Paris Olympics, Yulo didn’t show signs of slowing down as he returned to the mat and won a fourth straight gold medal in the floor exercise of the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in South Korea, where he also bagged a bronze each in parallel bars, vault, and individual all-around.

The vibrant gymnast from Leveriza, Manila later stomped his way back to the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Indonesia, where he copped the top honor in vault and snared a bronze in floor exercise during the 53rd edition of the meet.

A proud product of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain, Eala established several firsts in Philippine tennis history including breaking through the Top 50 barrier, in a year-round performance that captured the hearts of every Filipino around the world.

It all began one magical spring in Florida when the lovely Filipina took the Miami Open by storm as a wild card entry in the WTA 1000 event.

Ranked no. 140, Eala smashed her way up the standings by beating former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, reigning Australian Open title holder and no. 5 Madison Keys in the third round, and stunned five-time grand slam champion and world no. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals.

The Cinderella run came to an end in the semis when she lost against American Jesica Pegula, but it was all Eala needed to introduce herself as one of tennis’ rising stars.

Things snowballed from there. Eala became the first Filipino in the Open era to play in the Wimbledon singles main draw, finally won a first ever singles title in the WTA during the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico, and scored a Grand Slam breakthrough as the first from the Philippines in the Open era to win a match in the US Open against 14th seed Clara Tauson.

Capping a significant year for the daughter of former national swimmer Rizza Maniego-Eala and Mike Eala, was a gold medal in the women’s singles of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, ending a 26-year drought in Philippine tennis.