Filipino gymnast who won 2 Olympic golds in Paris gets hero's welcome and free buffets for life

MANILA, Philippines (AP) — Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, flew home to a hero’s welcome Tuesday with a nationally televised tribute by the president and donors pledging more than $1 million worth of cash and gifts, including a resort house and free lunch buffets for life.

The 24-year-old’s wins in the men’s floor exercise and vault were the largest victory ever by a Filipino athlete since the Philippines joined the Games a century ago. Two Filipino boxers, Nesthy Petecio and Aira Villegas, won bronze medals in women’s boxing in Paris.

The euphoria over Yulo's wins has provided a respite for a nation long ridden with poverty, deep divisions and conflicts.

Arriving in Manila, Yulo and the other Filipino athletes who participated in the Olympics were welcomed by flag-waving admirers who reached out for handshakes and took selfies. The athletes were met by their families before proceeding to the Malacanang palace, where President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. gave them presidential citations and a million pesos each ($17,500).

But Yulo got 20 million pesos ($350,000) from Marcos, who acknowledged the difficulties the athletes went through and “no official technical support from the government,” a longstanding complaint.

“They did it on their own. Of course, there are some who helped, sometimes the government is able to help, but there is no formal structure to help our athletes," Marcos said, and promised to fix it.

Cash and gifts pledged separately by other government offices, business tycoons and leading Philippine corporations for Yulo, including a condominium unit and a resort house south of Manila, would amount to more than 58 million pesos ($1 million). Prominent companies offered free pizzas, ice cream and lunch and dinner buffets for life along with free domestic and international flights.

Filipino boxing legend Manny Pacquiao, who rose to global fame for winning titles in eight different weight classes and for his rags-to-riches life story, promised to reward Yulo with an unspecified amount of cash.

A celebratory parade for Yulo and the other athletes on Wednesday along Manila’s main streets is expected to draw thousands of people. It will pass near a poor community where he grew up and first trained in gymnastics with his siblings in a public gym, where a coach first noticed the impressive skills of the then-7-year-old.

"I’ll welcome him with a hug and we’ll jump together in joy,” Rodrigo Frisco, a 74-year-old relative, told The Associated Press in the neighborhood where the gold medalist has become a poster boy for hope. “Who would believe that these narrow alleys and small houses would produce a champion?”

Weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz clinched the first-ever Olympic gold for the Philippines in Tokyo in 2021.

Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr., right, meets Olympic double gold medalist in gymnastics, Carlos Yulo during a welcome ceremony at the Malcañang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe, Pool)

Filipino athletes who competed in the Paris Olympics arrive during a welcome ceremony at the Malcañang presidential palace in Manila, Philippines on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Basilio Sepe, Pool)

A banner congratulating Filipino gymnast Carlo Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, is displayed in Leveriza, Pasay City, Manila, Philippines where Yulo grew up, on Tuesday, Aug 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)

Rodrigo Frisco, 74-year-old grandfather of Filipino gymnast Carlo Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, holds photos of his grandson on Tuesday, Aug. 13, 2024, in a neighborhood in Manila, Phillippines, where Yulo grew up. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)

Filipino gymnast Carlo Yulo, who won two gold medals in the Paris Olympics, arrives in Manila, Philippines, on Tuesday, Aug 13, 2024. (AP Photo/Joeal Calupitan)

Silver medalist Artur Davtyan, left, of Armenia, stands in the podium with gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo, center, of the Philippines, and bronze medalist Harry Hepworth, of Britain, during the medal ceremony for the men's artistic gymnastics individual vault finals at Bercy Arena at the 2024 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 4, 2024, in Paris, France.(AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

MAUMERE, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia’s Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki unleashed towering columns of ash into the air on Thursday, in an even larger eruption than the one that killed nine people and injured dozens of others three days ago.

There were no immediate reports of casualties from the latest eruption.

The 1,584-meter (5,197-foot) volcano on the remote island of Flores shot billowing columns of ash 11 times on Thursday, with the latest and largest rising 8,000 meters (26,240 feet), said Hadi Wijaya, the head of Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation.

The volcano had shown less activity since Monday’s deadly eruption killed nine people and injured 64 others.

Monday's eruption affected more than 10,000 people in 10 villages. About 4,400 villagers moved into makeshift emergency shelters after the eruption, which destroyed seven schools, nearly two dozen houses and a convent on the majority-Catholic island.

Volcanic materials, including smoldering rocks, lava and hot, thumb-size gravel and ash were thrown up to 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from its crater on Monday.

While visiting the devastated areas, officials found craters where rocks fell during eruptions, up to 13 meters (43 feet) wide and 5 meters (16 feet) deep, in several places including a destroyed school.

“It shows a difference in characteristics from the previous eruption in January,” said Wijaya, head of the volcanology center. He added that the earlier eruption mostly unleashed volcanic materials around the peak, followed by lava flows.

“We are still analyzing the change of Lewotobi's eruption character, which will be used by the government to determine a safe relocation site for residents,” Wijaya said.

He said his agency has asked the local government of East Nusa Tenggara province to close the only road connecting Maumere, the island’s largest city, to the neighboring district of Larantuka, as it passes through the volcano’s danger zone.

The country’s volcano monitoring agency increased Lewotobi Laki Laki's alert status to the highest level and more than doubled the exclusion zone to a 7-kilometer (4.3-mile) radius on Monday, prohibiting any activity in that area.

Authorities warned the thousands of people who fled not to return home, as the government planned to move about 16,000 residents out of the danger zone, said National Disaster Management Agency head Suharyanto, who like many Indonesians uses a single name.

“Permanent relocation is considered as a long-term mitigation measure to anticipate eruption in the future,” Suharyanto told reporters after visiting the devastated areas Thursday.

He said residents of the hardest-hit villages would be relocated within the next six months, and each family waiting for a new house will be compensated 500,000 rupiah ($32) per month.

About 6,500 people were evacuated in January after Mount Lewotobi Laki Laki began erupting, spewing thick clouds and forcing the government to close the island’s Fransiskus Xaverius Seda Airport. No casualties or major damage were reported, but the airport has remained closed since then due to seismic activity.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of a pair of stratovolcanoes in the East Flores district of East Nusa Tenggara province, known locally as the husband-and-wife mountains. “Laki laki” means man, while its mate is Lewotobi Perempuan, or woman.

The vulcanology center also said another volcano, Mount Marapi in West Sumatra province — one of the country’s most active volcanoes — erupted again on Thursday, spewing thick columns of ash at least three times and blanketing nearby villages with debris. No casualties were reported.

Lewotobi Laki Laki is one of the 120 active volcanoes in Indonesia, an archipelago of 280 million people. The country is prone to earthquakes, landslides and volcanic activity because it sits along the “Ring of Fire,” a horseshoe-shaped series of seismic fault lines around the Pacific Ocean.

Karmini reported from Jakarta. Associated Press journalists Edna Tarigan and Andi Jatmiko contributed to this report.

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic materials during an eruption, in East Flores, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024. (AP Photo)

Mount Lewotobi Laki-Laki spews volcanic materials during an eruption, in East Flores, Indonesia, Thursday, Nov, 7, 2024. (AP Photo)