Two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo explained why he didn’t reach the average height of Filipinos.
It can be recalled that Carlos was only 4’9″ in height based on his official records, which prompted some of his critics to call him ‘midget’ or ‘pandak.’
However, Carlos explained that his height may be the result of his hard training.
“I never stopped training,” said Carlos. “That explains bakit hindi na po ako lumaki. ‘Yung mga buto ko po sa tuhod ay hindi ma-i-stretch dahil hindi po ako tumigil sa training. Most specially when I train for floor exercise where there’s extreme impact on the feet and the knee,”
“I train for six hours a day. Three hours in the morning, 9 a.m. to 12 noon. Three hours also in the afternoon, 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. I train every day. No holiday. No birthday. No weekends,” he added.
Despite being a small man compared to other people, Carlos’s height became an advantage in his sports. Many believed that being smaller made it easier for him to do difficult gymnastics moves.
The most decorated gymnast of all time, Simon Biles, was only 4’8″ tall.
However, many believed that Carlos’ intense training had nothing to do with his current height, as his genes may be the most significant factor contributing to his size.