Carlos Yulo’s second gold medal at the Paris Olympics not only established him as the greatest Filipino Olympian ever but also propelled the Philippines up the medal table at the Summer Games.
From No. 31 on Saturday, the Philippines had risen to No. 19 following Yulo’s historic victory in the vault apparatus of the men’s artistic gymnastics competition on Sunday at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
China remains leading with 18 gold, 14 silver, and nine bronze medals while the United States made a huge leap to No. 2 with 14 gold, 25 silver, and 25 bronze medals for a commanding total of 64 medals.
South Korea and Japan remain at Nos. 7 and 8 with 10 and eight gold medals, respectively, while Hong Kong is still at No. 17 with two gold and two bronze medals.
Other Southeast Asian countries are way behind the medal tally with Indonesia and Malaysia tied at No. 62 with one bronze medal apiece at the end of the eighth day of competition.
The Philippines, however, is expected to further rise in the medal table as it expects more medals from boxers Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, who have already made it to the semifinal round.
There could also be additional mints from other athletes like pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena and golfers Dottie Ardina and Bianca Pagdanganan.
Obiena will be competing in the final round on Tuesday while Ardina and Pagdanganan will tee off their stroke play on Wednesday.
But for sure, the Paris edition of the Games is already the best ever for the Filipinos with two gold medals hanging around their necks.