Thailand issues 'selfish' regulations, causing Olympic champion to drop out of SEA Games

As initially predicted, Olympic champion Carlos Yulo was not included in the list of Philippine sports delegation attending the 33rd SEA Games, after Thailand issued confusing regulations in gymnastics.

Yulo decided to drop out of the SEA Games because Thailand had many strict regulations - Photo: REUTERS

A few months before the 33rd SEA Games kicked off, Thailand issued extremely harsh regulations for gymnastics.

Specifically, the host country only allows athletes to participate in the final of a maximum of 1 individual event. That means every athlete participating in gymnastics at the 33rd SEA Games can only win a maximum of 1 individual gold medal.

In addition, Thailand also canceled the individual all-around event, which is the most exciting event in gymnastics.

According to media assessments, all these regulations are aimed at tying down Carlos Yulo - a Filipino athlete, and the only star of Southeast Asian gymnastics who can reach the world's top level.

At the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yulo shocked the world when he won 2 gold medals in the freestyle gymnastics and vault events.

At the World Championships, Yulo won 3 gold medals, 2 silver medals and 3 bronze medals after 5 participations, an impressive number, making him a sports icon in the Philippines.

With strengths in many events such as freestyle, vault, parallel bars, Yulo also often wins gold medals in all-around events at sports festivals.

A clear example is at the 31st SEA Games in Vietnam, Yulo won a total of 5 individual gold medals. At the 32nd SEA Games, despite participating in fewer events, he still won 2 individual gold medals.

But because the Philippine team's level is uneven, Yulo often cannot win the team event at the SEA Games.

Carlos Yulo won historic Olympic gold medal for the Philippines - Photo: REUTERS

Therefore, the regulations that Thailand set in gymnastics are almost to "tie down" Carlos Yulo, making him only able to win a maximum of 2 gold medals (1 individual, 1 team).

"Thailand does not think about its athletes. They only think about the medals they can win," Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) President Cynthia Carreon angrily declared when Thailand issued this rule.

After discussion, GAP agreed with Yulo that they would not send him to the SEA Games - an event considered a "waste of time" when a superstar like him could only win a maximum of 1 individual gold medal. Yulo would focus on bigger events in the future.

These constraints imposed by host Thailand are very rare in the sports competitions. Many gymnastics stars in the world often participate in the finals of all 6 individual events.

And because of that, SEA Games 33 lost a world-class superstar, a luxury for the "lowland" of Southeast Asia.

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HUY DANG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/thailand-ra-quy-dinh-ich-ky-khien-nha-vo-dich-olympic-bo-du-sea-games-20251204101147376.htm