BEFORE announcing his decision to skip the 33rd Southeast Asian Games this December in Thailand, Carlos Yulo told reporters in Jakarta that he’s only competing in floor exercise and vault at the world gymnastics championships that kicked off Sunday and ends Saturday.
Yulo said he’s cautious about risking his left wrist injury.
‘I still want the taste of competition,’ Yulo said in an Olympic.com report before the weekend. ‘That is the most important for me right now.’
The double gold medalist in vault and floor exercise at last year’s Paris Olympics announced on Saturday through Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion-Norton that he’s skipping the Thailand SEA Games.
For two reasons: He’s giving his fellow Filipino gymnasts the opportunity to win golds and because Thai gymnastics organizers have limited Yulo-and all other elite gymnasts-to only one event in the December 9 to 20 games.
‘Carlos [Yulo] just decided not to push through with the SEA Games because he can only compete in one event,’ Carrion-Norton said. ‘It’s a selfless decision because he likes to give others a chance.’
‘He’s now focused on winning in the world championships,’ she added.
Carrion-Norton also said that Thailand scrapped the all-around event.
‘Golds are only for each apparatus,’ added the GAP president who added that Yulo’s wrist has been progressing the past few days.
The two-time world champion told Olympic.com that he injured his wrist two months before Jakarta.
‘I kind of have been having trouble with my wrists,’ said Yulo, blaming the injury to his intent to develop a new dismount-double pike front with a half twist-in the parallel bars. ‘I kind of did it too much.’
Yulo said he’s still going all out despite competing in only two events in Jakarta.
‘My goal is to perform beautiful gymnastics, to be really graceful,’ he said. ‘I want to show really good and graceful gymnastics and I’m just really happy that I get to compete.’
With Yulo in Jakarta are Miguel Besana and Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Ivan Cruz.