Yulo takes his second gold. (Reuters photo)

GREAT things come in small packages.

From his humble beginnings as a wide-eyed kid who grew up in the busy street of Leveriza in Malate, Manila, just a stone’s throw away from the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex where national athletes toughen up, Carlos Edriel Yulo etched his name in the annals of history as the greatest Filipino Olympian ever.

That is unless someone exceeds his feat in the Los Angeles edition of the Games in 2028 or in the years, decades, or even centuries to come.

The 4-foot-11 dynamo achieved sporting glory in historic fashion in the recently concluded Paris Olympics after bagging two gold medals in the floor exercise and vault of the men’s artistic gymnastics.

“I don’t know what to say,” Yulo said in the aftermath of his golden triumph in his bread and-butter floor exercise last Aug. 3 at the posh Bercy Arena.

“We are a really small country. . . So, to be able to get a gold medal for us is big for us, huge.

“I dedicate this to the Filipino people also who supported me,” he added.

Yulo began his outing with a tumbling pass that featured a high-flying 2-1/2 double-piked front somersault and rounded off the dynamic display akin to poetry in motion with an astounding 3-1/2 twisting forward somersault.

When he made his final landing, he punched the air with both fists, let out a huge roar and then saluted the appreciative crowd that had stomped to their feet to appreciate his performance for the ages.

Yulo, 24, stood tallest and mightiest on the Greatest Show on Earth in scoring 15.000 in the floor exercise final— more than enough to topple erstwhile Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, who scored 14.966—just 0.034 short of Yulo’s mark.

The moment of truth proved to be an anti-climactic: those in the arena and Filipinos at home held their breath and said prayers waiting for the score of Briton Luke Whitehouse, the last gymnast who performed, to be flashed on the giant screen.

Whitehouse’s score read: 14.466 points and Yulo, overcome with emotion, fell on his burly knees, covered his face with his hands and broke down in tears.

Fil-Britain’s Jake Jarman finished third, just 0.067 of a point adrift of the mint after committing a few landing errors on his tumbles.

“It’s just a bonus for me and this is what really matters,” Yulo said, clutching the shining medal around his neck. “My hard work and the people who really helped me. I know my success is also their success. I’m happy that I won gold, and I also won a house.”

One gold medal in Team Philippines’ centennial stint in the grandest sports extravaganza proved to be not enough for Yulo, whose name is now synonymous with winning amid his highly publicized row with his mother, Angelica over issues of money and disapproval of his girlfriend, Fil-Australian Chole San Jose.

Yulo fittingly followed up his first gold with another victory in the vault.

“I was more chilled and relaxed.

It helped me give it all because there was nothing to lose anymore and that’s what happened. It’s so crazy, I don’t know what to feel right now,” Yulo said the night after his maiden mint. “The first vault was really good. I was so shocked that I landed it.

Yulo soared to the top of the podium with a high score of 15.116 points to trip Armenian Artur Davtyan, who totaled 14.966 for the silver.

Harry Hepworth of Great Britain wound up with the bronze with 14.949 markers.

Yulo returned to the Philippines yesterday, Aug. 13, with no less than President Marcos Jr. welcoming the nation’s newest sports hero.

Under Republic Act 10699, the revised incentives law, Yulo will receive a bonus of P10 million for each gold medal he won in the French capital on top of a Medal of Valor for his heroic efforts that highlighted the country’s best finish in the Games.

Yulo was set to go to the Hilton at the Newport World Resorts in Pasay for another victory party where he will receive the title to his P32 million fully furnished condominium unit at McKinley Hill in Taguig on top of a P3 million from Megaworld.

His windfall had breached the P150 million mark.

Yulo was set to make a triumphant homecoming in Manila, with the city led by Mayor Honey Lacuna feting him with a parade from the Philippine International Convention Center to the RMSC.

Lacuna has pledged P2 million to Yulo, too.

In Yulo’s return to where his gymnastics career started, there will certainly be a feeling of nostalgia and pride of what he accomplished but more importantly a Cinderella story of how perseverance, hard work, and faith led him to unimaginable heights that will never be forgotten.

Yulo has just one fervent wish.

“Hopefully gymnastics in the country will grow,” he said.