The Japanese government donated P 7 million of gymnastics equipment as Philippine gymnastics officials kicked off its grassroots development program at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex on Friday.

Koshikawa Kazuhiko, Ambassador to the Philippines, and Cynthia Carrion, president of Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) led the ceremony.

The ambassador expressed his sincere respect for the leadership of Carrion and Kugimiya in making this facility a reality.

Carrion said the project was signed on March 28, 2022 between the Japanese government and GAP with support from Kugimiya..

Kazuhiko said "Mr. Yulo began his gymnastic journey at a very young age, just like you today. Ten years ago he met coach Kugimiya who came from Japan that time to help train the Philippine men's gymnastic team under the request of GAP."

The ambassador said "since then Mr. Yulo has been passionately training and making his marks on the world stage.''

He said "Mr Yulo continues to represent the Philippines around the world with coach Kugimiya and he's now aiming for the Paris 2024 Olympic games. I hope you'll be able to learn a lot from Carlos Yulo today this afternoon."

"We wish that you'll use this training facility to and someday become a world renowned gymnast like Mr. Carlos yulo. The gymnastic equipment donated by Japan to this facility includes a mattress that is usually used in the Tokyo 2022 Olympic game." he added.

"We are grateful to Ambassador Koshikawa for helping us in securing the grant so that we can further discover and nurture top gymnasts like Carlos Yulo, a GAP protege since he was seven years old and has emerged as a two-time world champion," said Carrion.

She said the gymnastics team aims ''to win all the gold (medals) we can get in the SEA Games.

Carrion also mentioned that she talked to Nishimura Kenji, acting secretary general of Japan Gymnastics Association, about the plan of free training of Filipino gymnasts to Teikyo University. Eric Acidre/DMS