Metro Manila, Philippines – Taekwondo gold medalist Jeus Gabriel Derick Yape will bear the Philippine flag in the parade of athletes for the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 closing ceremony on Sunday, Oct. 4.
Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham Tolentino said the 22-year-old standout was chosen in recognition of his sport and exemplary campaign.
“He’s deserving [of] that honor,” Tolentino said on Yape’s appointment as flag bearer.
“It will be a recognition not only for Jeus, but also for taekwondo, which finally won its first Asian Games gold medal since 1994, when the sport became a medal event in the Games,” he added.
Yape will be joined by fellow Asian Games silver Taekwondo medalists Juliana Mykhail Candelaria, Tachiana Keizha Mangin, and Kurt Bryan Barbosa, alongside men’s 55-kilogram boxing silver medalist Carlo Paalam.
On Friday, Yape bagged the country’s fourth gold medal after dominating the mixed individual virtual taekwondo event, an open-gender event combining combat sports with virtual reality and motion-tracking technology.
He initially clinched a bronze medal in the men’s individual poomsae on Thursday.
