Jeus Yape made history in a sport making its own Asian Games debut.
The 22-year-old UST product defeated Vietnam's Ngoc Tuyet Sang Chau in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo final on Friday, 2-0, to win the Philippines' fourth gold medal of the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games .
Yape capped his Asian Games campaign with two medals, having also won bronze in the men's poomsae event on Thursday.
He became the third Filipino to win gold in Aichi-Nagoya, joining gymnast Carlos Yulo, who claimed two gold medals, and pole vaulter EJ Obiena, who set a new Asian Games record on his way to the top of the podium.
Yape was also the only Filipino aside from Yulo to win multiple medals at this year's Asian Games.
His road to gold included a 2-1 victory over Saudi Arabia's Dunya Bushuaib Saber in the round of 16, followed by straight-set wins over Japan's Hayate Suzuki and Kazakhstan's Rita Bakisheva.
Yape dominated Chau in the final, completing an unbeaten run through the knockout stage to become the first Filipino to win gold in the newly introduced discipline.
The victory capped three months of rigorous preparation under coaches Rani Ortega, Jeordan Dominguez and Dane Pio de Roda, who helped Yape transition from traditional taekwondo to the virtual arena.
"After it was announced that I would be playing in the Asian Games in virtual taekwondo, Coach Rani told me last July," Yape said.
"So when we came back from Korea, Coach Rani and Coach Jeordan scheduled a training session with Coach Dane because Coach Dane is in charge of the virtual taekwondo team in Philippines.
"We always train with Coach Dane and the virtual taekwondo team. They were the ones who trained me. We were also invited by the [Philippine Taekwondo Association] to join the virtual taekwondo Asian Games in Korea with Coach Jordan."
Virtual taekwondo blends the physical demands of traditional martial arts with virtual reality technology.
Rather than being treated as a conventional esports event, the discipline was included as a medal event under the World Taekwondo program for its Asian Games debut.
Athletes wear VR headsets and full-body motion-tracking sensors attached to their backs, thighs and shins. Their movements are then translated in real time to digital avatars inside the virtual arena, which is broadcast on the venue's big screen.
Athletes stand on individual mats several meters apart, using kicks and footwork to attack their opponents. Accurate strikes drain an opponent's virtual health bar while building up their stun meter.
The event also departed from traditional taekwondo rules. It used a 16-player knockout format with no weight classes and mixed-gender matchups, allowing male and female martial artists to compete directly against one another.