While the spotlight belonged to Carlos Yulo, Juancho Miguel Besana put on his own quiet show on the sidelines of a gigantic show – and made himself proud.
The 20-year-old Filipino vaulter walked away from the men’s vault final at the 20th Asian Games in fifth place, landing both his vaults clean in a final stacked with Olympians and future Olympians, world-class scores flashing one after another.
And that’s despite a slight injury.
‘I’m feeling good. Happy to be able to land both vaults. And despite the pains, I walked away with no major injuries. Thankful to the Lord that I was able to perform. Landing fifth on the finals is a good achievement for me,’ said Besana.
It was never going to be easy as the field was tough.
‘It’s a very tough competition having Olympians and future Olympians as well. The scores were for world class, Olympic class. And being able to go up against those gymnasts is a good challenge for me,’ he said.
Besana has been nursing pains through the buildup to Nagoya, so just hitting two solid landings on Asia’s biggest stage was a victory in itself. No stumbles. No major injuries. Just two stuck vaults and a top-five finish to show for it.
And he did it while sharing the floor with greatness. For a kid who just wanted to land on his feet, he did more than that.