Yulo storms back, bags vault gold medal

JAKARTA, Indonesia — Paris Olympic double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo leaned on a sensational first try to regain  the men’s vault gold medal with a score of 14.886 points on Saturday, capping his stint with a big bang at the close the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.

After settling for bronze in the floor exercise the previous day, Yulo had fire in his eyes and lit up the 16,500-seat arena with a spectacular first vault, netting him a sizzling mark of 15.20, including a .20 stick bonus.

“Piked handspring double front half, gorgeous in the air until the twist where he softens his knees slightly, chest down on the landing but feet do not move!” described the impressed annotator of the Gymternet after Yulo’s opening try.  

Yulo put his right pointing finger across his lip as if to hush the crowd when he completed his first vault, which he said was unconscious and spontaneous in trying to emulate the late Kobe Bryant.    

This high score was crucial and the edge the gymnast needed after mustering 14.533 on his second attempt with still five more entries to go in the nerve-wracking finale.  

But Yulo, who seized the upperhand as the third entry to compete among the eight quarterfinalists, had to sit on pins and needles until the eighth and last gymnast — veteran Armenian Arthur Davtyan — had completed his vault.

Only when the score 14.833 of Davtyan, the Paris Olympic silver medalist behind Yulo, was flashed on the big screen did  the pint-sized Pinoy phenom pump his fists with relief and rejoicing knowing that that the gold was finally his.

Daytyan, who had 14.800 on his first vault and 14.866 on the second, was just .033 of a point behind the Filipino while Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi took the bronze.

The performance of the Filipino bet, whose stint and the national team here was backed by the Philippine Sport Commission, was marked improvement over the last world meet held in 2023 in Antwerp, Belgium when he went home empty-handed.

It was also his second vault title after topping the event in the 2021 edition in Kitakyushu, Japan after the Tokyo Olympics, and third overall adding the men’s floor exercise championship he took six years ago in Stuttgart, Germany.

In Manila, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio congratulated Yulo on his latest golden achievement.

Asked to elaborate on his post-vault gesture, Yulo, who looks up to the Los Angeles Lakers legend, explained that it just came up at the spur-of-the-moment, likely to relieve the nervous tension following the previous day’s lackluster outing.

“I am truly a fan of Kobe and like his ‘Black Mamba’ mentality, his mental strength; I think I saw him doing that to silence the crowd at an Olympic basketball game,” he said

“Caloy (Yulo’s) nickname  is truly our national treasure, and he continues to excite our countrymen on the world stage. With the nations’ full support, I’m sure our two-time Olympic champion will make us proud over and over,” Gregorio said.

“Hats off to our gymnastics association as well. Mabuhay ka, Caloy! Mabuhay ang Philippine sports!”

While he may have missed sweep in both of his events, Yulo was still grateful just being here and going home with the medals back to Manila to share with his countrymen.

“I am just grateful that I am here. To win the gold in the vault and bronze in the floor is still satisfying, and I am lifting it all to God for winning them,” said the soft-spoken athlete.

“I was really crying when I finally saw that Carlos had finally won. His hard work all paid off, although we were anxious for a while because the remaining gymnasts, especially Davtyan, were also good,” said gymnastics chief Cynthia Carrion in delight as well as relief.