PARIS Olympic double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo looked slightly out-of-sync and scored 14.533 points for the bronze medal in the men’s floor exercise of the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta on Friday.
Yulo, who ruled the event in the world’s 2019 edition in Stuttgart, seemed a bit rusty after a four-day break since taking second in the qualifiers over the weekend with a slightly better score of 14.566.
He was able to salvage the bronze behind the 1-2 finish of Paris Olympic bronze medalist Jake Jarman, who bagged his second world gold medal with a top score of 14.866 points, and compatriot Luke Whitehouse-both from Great Britain-who took the silver medal (14.666).
In a demanding discipline where minute increments can spell the difference between victory and defeat, the pint-sized Pinoy gymnast was penalized .333 points-the winning margin of Jarman over Yulo.
Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission, Yulo, 25, was the second athlete on the mat, seemingly lacking the same dynamic and explosive energy he showcased last year in Paris where he reigned supreme with 15.000 points.
As the second athlete to see action, he had a fleeting moment at the top with his dismal score after American Kameron Nelson opened the men’s floor exercise with 14.133 points.
But his expression flashed on the huge video monitor after his performance was hinted that it might not last, and, true enough, Whitehouse wrested it away with a solid outing that netted him 14.666 points.
The Englishman had to cool his heels for a while before Jarman, whose mother is from Cebu, took to the stage as the second-to-the-last gymnast to come up with an impressive routine that won the nod of the judges.
‘I have no regrets, I did my best and gave my all but Jarvis and Luke just happened to be better today,’ Yulo said. ‘I am grateful that I reached two apparatus and that is a big plus for me.’
‘There is still the vault finals and I aim to do better than today,’ added the gymnasts, who won the event in 2021 in Kitakyushu, just months after the Tokyo Olympics.
‘Between Carlos and me, it is like a friendly rivalry since we face each other often on the world stage. But this gold is quite special since I fancy myself to be a floor exercise guy and winning this is a validation of that,’ Jarman, a vault champion in the the previous meet held in Antwerp, Belgium in 2023, said.
Competing in his seventh straight world competition since make his debut In Doha, Qatar in 2018, Yulo still has chance to bring home the bacon on Saturday in the vault finals at the close of the meet.
He is considered the prohibitive favorite in the event after topping the qualifiers with 14.750 points.