Thirteen-year-old Haifa Niegas stayed up past her bedtime on Sunday to watch Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo compete in the Olympics. And when the athlete bagged his second gold, her home in Abu Dhabi erupted in cheers, with her mum jumping while holding a huge Philippine flag in their living room.
“Seeing Carlos win two gold medals made me want to train harder, work harder,” Niegas told media.
Within just 24 hours, Yulo went from making history as the first Filipino gymnast to win in the Olympics to breaking his record with another gold medal. His first gold was for the floor exercise final and the other was for the vault at the Paris Olympics.
Niegas, a Filipino-Iraqi Year 9 student, is also a gymnast who has been winning tournaments around the world. Just last month, she won a gold medal for the UAE in an international competition in Egypt.
The next time she takes the floor, though, the rhythmic gymnast will be bearing the Philippine flag. Niegas has just joined the Philippine national team early this year, opening up new opportunities for her to enter bigger competitions that could eventually lead her to the Olympics.
Twirling since 3 years old
Another young Filipina gymnast was also observing from Dubai and was rooting for Yulo.
Another 13-year-old girl, Gabrielle Anne Opida Ramos, was quietly holding her breath waiting for the Olympic performer to do his stunt.
“The tension was very high and to squeeze the scores of other athletes, I was very stressed,” Ramos said to the mediates.
“When I saw that Carlos Yulo got 15.116, I was so happy and proud seeing a wonderful teammate putting Philippines into the world map,” she said adding that as a rhythmic gymnast she would emulate the feeling that came with her efforts in performing such stunt.
Ramos is a first year student in Grade 9 in Dubai; she has marvelous inclination in gymnastic since her childhood, at 3 years of age in particular. Her first interest was ballet then she shifted to gymnastics. In 2022, she was able to get a scholarship which enabled her to participate in normal training drills.
“This sport inspires me to live a healthier life, including a stronger immune system, flexibility, and increased discipline, Gymnastics boosted confidence,” Ramos added.
What is more, she has also managed to clinch numerous competitions held in the UAE and other parts of the world similar to what Niegas has done.
“Try as much as I can and always aim high I thought to myself when I saw myself winning the third position here.”
The two teenage gymnasts are among the most dedicated in the UAE gymnasium practicing even on school weekdays.
Niegas commutes between Abu Dhabi and Dubai, and during weekdays she spends 4 hours perfecting her performance, and 5 on Saturday.
Ramos invested three hours for each training session, which she conducts thrice a week.
“It has positively affected my performance and note, my coaches noticed that I have the capacity to start competing… when I join competitions, the judges also notice my abilities,” she said.
Young athletes’ aspirations for the Philippines
Apart from eliciting hope, we must acknowledge that Yulo opened the road for young Filipino gymnasts, Niegas said as he gears up for the 2025 World Junior Championship.
‘The happiness that I felt after his victory is also the hope that this specific moment could popularized gymnastic in the Philippines and inspire the country to take up the sport’, she said.
“May be it would force the government into employing more coaches, looking for young talent and rounding up those raw youthful gymnasts,” chimed her mum Gina.
As commented by some of the participants, especially the ones in the Philippine team, “We need a stronger Philippine team.”
Niegas and Ramos are also eager to dance for the Olympics one day and be as happy as Turner and Snow when performing tumbling and pirouetting.
“I would go on my social media accounts then started searching for any performance of any gymnast in the Olympics or any other competitions that I come across, it challenges me more with every performance that I give during my competitions,” Ramos added.
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“What is left for me is to join more international championships and to win the Asian games among others, Of course there is a long way ahead but now I am more motivated than before.”