[OPINION] Why I hated basketball: On Carlos Yulo’s Olympic wins and gendered sports 

“Sports is beautiful but also brutal.” — E.J. Obiena, pole vaulter, Paris Olympics 2024

In the light of Carlos Yulo’s Olympic wins in gymnastics in Paris [and in remembrance of Hidilyn Diaz’s watershed win in weightlifting in Tokyo in 2021], there was a burst of online chatter about the state of competitive sports in the Philippines. About the hardships our athletes have to go through to train and to participate in competitions, often with the most measly and most grudging of government support.