John Ivan Cruz and Juancho Miguel Besana delivered a pleasant surprise when they joined Carlos Yulo in towing the country to an impressive finish in the gymnastics competition of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
But seeing the troika with gold medals hanging around its neck is nothing new.
In fact, they have been plotting this since they were young boys playing in the National Capital Region Palarong Panrehiyon in 2012.
Yulo and his first cousin, Cruz, were then playing for Manila while Besana, who is currently taking an academic break at University of Santo Tomas to focus on honing his craft, represented Pasig City.
The 21-year-old Cruz, for one, said his climb to the top had never been easy.
“I have been through rough times in the Philippines. I didn’t expect I would get this,” said Cruz, recalling all the challenges he had to endure after dropping out of Araullo High School just to focus on winning the gold medal in the men’s floor exercise event of the SEA Games.
Cruz stands to receive P300,000 for his gold medal and P30,000 for his silver medal based on the Republic Act 10699 or the National Athletes and Coaches Incentives Act.
“I’m just happy that I can now make a living for my family,” he said, adding that winning the SEA Games title is not yet the end of his journey.
“I can feel the pressure because I have a new target to protect and do better.”
Also being groomed to become a world-class gymnast is Besana.
The 19-year-old is undergoing rigid training in Japan together with Yulo’s younger brother, Karl Eldrew, following his impressive performance in the first leg of the FIG World Cup in Cottbus, Germany last March.
He said he is still adjusting to the higher intensity training with the Tokushukai Gymnastics Club, the same team where Yulo plays.
“The training here is heavier compared to the Philippines. I am learning a lot here because the skills of the gymnasts here are on an Olympic level,” Besana said.
“Training here in Japan is a big deal and they would often give me advice if they can say it in English. Our training here is good.”
Yulo was beaming with pride seeing both Cruz and Besana retain the gold medals in his pet events.
“It can be seen in practice. I was never surprised that they did. I was nervous but after that, I was happy,” said Yulo, who took home two gold and two silver medals in the Phnom Penh Games.
“I have no problem with the limits here because I focused on the individual and team all-around events.”
With Yulo is skipping the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou China for 2023 FIG World Championships in Antwerp, Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion is preparing Cruz and Besana for the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the OCBC Arena in Singapore from 10 to 18 June.
“It’s the same people that qualified. We’re sending a lot of names. It’s easier to remove them than to add so we’re naming all our good athletes,” Carrion said in a virtual press conference.
“We will see how well they perform and everything will come out. Hopefully, there will be no injuries.”
Yulo, Cruz and Besana represent the future of Philippine gymnastics.
But they were not overnight sensations. They worked their way up starting when they were still young boys until becoming fine gentlemen.
