CARLOS YULO attempts to further cement his status as one of the world’s elite athletes as he shoots for the men’s floor exercise gold medal in the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta on Friday.
Yulo and the rest of the finalists in his pet event where he already won a world title, will be coming off a four-day rest from the qualifiers.
‘Of course rest and recovery of course is really important. That is non-negotiable, especially at this really high intensity level,’ said the Paris Olympic double gold medalist, whose stint here and the rest of the national team is backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.
The final is set at 2 p.m. (3 p.m. in Manila).
‘It also helps me to calm down. To compose my mental state and allows me to get focused once again in the competition when it is needed,’ added the ace gymnast, who will be the second athlete to perform after American Kameron Nelson.
Yulo was second in the qualifiers held over the weekend with a score of 14.566 points behind Briton Jake Jarman, who was tops with 14.700 and will be seventh entry on the mat, looming as the biggest threat to the Filipino campaigner.
The pint-sized Pinoy twister will be gunning for his second mint in the world meet after securing his first with a golden performance of 15.300 points, a personal best, in the 2019 edition held in Stuttgart, Germany.
‘Carlos is ready to go and he has prepared very well for the floor exercise. We made some improvement to his routine, and, if all goes well, we might land another gold medal at the world championships,’ said Australian coach Nedal Alyousef, who has been handling the national team since April.
Yulo will also eye his second vault gold in the world meet on the last day of the apparatus finals on Saturday, capping seven days of intense and exciting gymnastics action in the world’s biggest Muslim country.
He will aim to add a second to his collection to the initial one he won four years ago in the 40th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships held in Kitakyushu, Japan.
Keen on duplicating his golden pair in the same events at the Paris Olympics last year, Yulo is the top favorite in the floor exercise after ruling the qualifiers with a score of 14.750 points, with the main competition expected to come from Armenian Arthur Davtyan.
He will be the third athlete to perform while Davtyan, second to the Filipino with an output of 14.566 points in the qualifiers and was likewise the Paris Olympic silver medalist in the event, will be the eighth and last gymnast to compete.