Olympic glory beckons Yulo

Olympic glory still beckons Carlos Yulo despite his 12th-place finish in the men’s all-around event late Thursday at the Bercy Arena in Paris.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion believes that Yulo’s performance in the all-around event can land him gold medals in the floor exercise and vault — events where he emerged as world champion in the past.

In her past interviews, Carrion admitted that Yulo doesn’t stand a chance against the heavyweights of the all-around event.

But she was surprised when the 24-year-old Yulo scored 83.032 points in the all-around final. His score could have been higher if he didn’t botch his pommel horse routine.

“He started wrong in the pommel horse by adding an extra move. That’s why he fell and if he didn’t fall, he could have finished at eighth place at best,” said Carrion in a telephone conversation with DAILY TRIBUNE from Paris.

“He’ll be able to do it for sure. He will get either one of them.”

Shinnouske Oka of Japan came out victorious with a total score of 86.832 points while

Zhang Boheng of China settled for the silver medal with 86.599 points and teammate Xiao Ruoteng claimed the bronze with 86.364 points.

Looking into Yulo’s apparatus scores during the all-around final, it appears that he has a serious case to win the country’s second Olympic gold medal.

After all, Yulo finished the floor exercise with a superior score of 14.333 points while posting 14.766 points in vault.

The two-time world champion is also seen as calmer and more composed compared to his debut in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, where he was an emotional wreck that led to a disastrous performance.

Yulo said he will go all out when he competes in the final of floor exercise on Saturday at 9:30 p.m. (Manila time) and vault on Sunday at 10:24 p.m. (Manila time).

“There are no second thoughts of ‘should I do it, ‘should I not do it?’ I’ll give it my all, no matter what happens, I’m happy with that,” Yulo told reporters after the match.

“Even if I made a mistake, I learned a lot. It’s a great feeling to be a part of the all-around final. It’s a big leap from the Tokyo Olympics.”

Standing in his way of a gold medal are Tokyo Games gold medalist and world champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Rayderley Miguel Zapata of Spain, and Filipino-British Jake Jarman of Great Britain.

Yulo said he will bring the lessons he learned in the all-around final when he guns for a podium finish.

“I learned a lot from being an all-rounder. I just don’t want to stress myself,’ Yulo said.

“The routine might not have been perfect but I have no regrets.”