MANILA – Two of the Philippines’ most prominent athletes will be jointly honored at the Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Annual Awards Night, with Carlos Yulo and Alex Eala named the 2025 Male and Female Athletes of the Year.
The recognition, handed out by the country’s oldest sports media organization, cites the pair’s outstanding achievements on the international stage that brought significant attention to Philippine sports throughout the year.
Yulo and Eala will headline a roster of awardees in the annual ceremony, which was originally scheduled for February 2 but has been reset to February 16 due to unforeseen circumstances. The venue remains the Diamond Hotel Manila.
The dual citation marks a rare occasion for the PSA, which last named co-Athletes of the Year in 2004 when boxing icon Manny Pacquiao and golfer Jennifer Rosales shared the honor.
Yulo, 25, becomes a repeat awardee after also being named Athlete of the Year in 2024. Eala, 20, will receive the distinction for the first time.
“Their exemplary performances on the international stage, and more importantly, the way they have inspired countless young athletes to chase their own path for greatness, are enough reasons to crown both Alex and Carlos as the year’s top performers in sports,” said PSA president Francis Ochoa.
Fresh from his historic double-gold medal showing at the Paris Olympics, Yulo continued his strong form in 2025 by securing a fourth consecutive gold medal in the floor exercise at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in South Korea. He also collected bronze medals in the parallel bars, vault, and individual all-around events.
The Manila-born gymnast later added to his medal haul at the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Indonesia, winning gold in the vault and a bronze in the floor exercise at the 53rd edition of the competition.
Eala, a scholar of the Rafa Nadal Academy in Manacor, Spain, likewise produced a breakthrough year that featured multiple milestones for Philippine tennis.
Among her notable achievements was breaking into the Top 50 of the world rankings, a first for a Filipina in the Open era.
Her rise gained global attention at the Miami Open, where she entered the WTA 1000 tournament as a wild card and advanced deep into the draw. Ranked No. 140 at the time, Eala defeated former French Open champion Jelena Ostapenko in the second round, world No. 5 and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys in the third round, and world No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the quarterfinals. Her run ended in the semifinals against American Jessica Pegula.
Building on that momentum, Eala became the first Filipino in the Open era to compete in the Wimbledon singles main draw, captured the country’s first WTA singles title at the Guadalajara 125 Open in Mexico, and recorded a historic US Open victory by defeating 14th seed Clara Tauson for the Philippines’ first Open-era main-draw win at the tournament.
She capped the year by winning the gold medal in women’s singles at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Bangkok, Thailand, ending a 26-year title drought for Philippine tennis./PN
