Can Yulo rule vault again?

Carlos Yulo seeks back-to-back gold medals in the men’s vault when he competes in the final of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday.

The competition starts at 8 p.m. Manila time, with the 26-year-old aiming to become the first Filipino gymnast to win consecutive world titles in the same apparatus.

Yulo is also competing in the floor exercise final at press time as he seeks to reclaim the title he won in 2019, which propelled him into the ranks of the world’s elite.

His vault title defense, however, got off to a rocky start after he finished sixth in the qualifying round with an average of 14.266 points.

Yulo’s double front pike vault with a half turn was downgraded from a difficulty score of 5.6 to 5.2 following a review by the AI-powered Judging Support System.

The two-time Olympic gold medalist, who captured his first world vault title in 2021 in Kitakyushu, Japan, admitted he was disappointed with the result despite making adjustments to his routine.

“Yes, it was a bit disappointing because I’ve been working really hard on it. I tried to adjust everything, and I think this was my best qualification on vault so far,” Yulo said.

“Last time, I wasn’t sure if I could make it to the finals or even land the vault. This time, I had the opportunity to adjust, and I did.”

“In my opinion, I did really well on vault. I just don’t know what the problem was.”

Filipino-British gymnast Jake Jarman topped the qualifying round with 14.633 points, tied with 2023 world champion Artur Davtyan of Armenia.