LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte — Another up-and-coming gymnast is making presence felt in the 65th Palarong Pambansa.
Eight-year-old Armand Hernandez Jr. of the National Capital Region (NCR) dominated the elementary boys artistic gymnastics cluster 1 (ages 7-9) at the Ilocos Norte National High School Gymnasium with five gold medals after winning in the horizontal bars, vault, floor exercise, individual all-around and the team all-around.
Hernandez’s only medal that isn’t gold was at the mushroom apparatus, where he clinched the bronze.
The incoming Grade 4 student of Don Carlos Elementary School in Pasay City said his inspiration for getting into sports was the illustrious Yulo brothers Carlos and Eldrew.
“My mom asked me if I wanted to do dancesport or gymnastics. I eventually chose gymnastics,” Hernandez said.
“I was encouraged to do it because of Kuya Eldrew and I was inspired by Kuya Carlos.”
The Yulos made the Palaro their playground before becoming world-class athletes.
Carlos made his Palaro debut in Tacloban City in 2009 as a small, skinny boy representing NCR just like Hernandez.
Eventually, the 25-year-old Yulo became a two-time world champion, a multiple-time Southeast Asia Games champion, and a two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Meanwhile, Eldrew is also a Palaro veteran who is now taking his talents overseas.
From collecting gold medals in the Palaro, the younger Yulo eventually picked up his first world championship in the floor exercise at the 2024 Pacific Rim Gymnastics Championships at the Coliseo El Pueblo in Cali, Colombia.
If everything falls into place, the country might produce another world-caliber gymnast in Hernandez Jr.