Just like his double gold haul in last year’s Paris Olympics, Carlos Yulo is eyeing a golden double after making the final of the men’s vault and floor exercise in the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships on Monday.
Competing in Subdivision 7 at Indonesia Arena and with a small but lively Filipino gallery, Yulo secured the top spot in vault with an impressive average score of 14.750 points. The Filipino dynamo soared and landed solidly on his first vault, scoring 14.90, and, doing a revised routine, did 14.600 on his second try, smiling and waving to the crowd after his stellar display.
Armenian Arthur Davtyan placed a close second (14.566), while Ukraine’s Nathan Chepurnyi was third (14.316).
In his other pet event, Yulo had a clean performance, twirling and tumbling his way to second place with 14.560 points just behind Fil-British pacesetter Jake Jarman (14.700) while Kameron Nelson (14.30) third.
The floor and vault were the same events he garnered gold in a historic performance in the glitzy French capital that highlighted the country’s centennial celebration of its participation in the modern Olympic Games.
Yulo will be well-rested when he competes in the floor final on Friday with the battle for the vault gold happening the next day in the elite gymnastics competition that drew 476 top athletes from 76 countries from all over the world.
‘I am just really grateful that I got to compete, show my performance and come back here in a good state,’ said Yulo, who is still recovering from wrist injuries. ‘While I wasn’t able to do the all-around, I am still proud that I am here and still aiming for the best.’
‘We’re proud that Carlos was able to perform well and make it to the finals of both events. This was our aim so, hopefully, he will duplicate his golden performances in Paris,’ said Philippine gymnastics chief Cynthia Carrion.
Yulo felt he ‘could do better’ after seeing a replay of his performance in floor but added he was satisfied with how he fared in vault.
The 25-year-old Yulo is the last Filipino gymnast standing after his teammates failed to hurdle their respective qualifying stints.
All making their debuts at the worlds, Juancho Miguel Besana wound up in 39th place in the all-around with 68.645 points.
Ivan Cruz finished 66th overall in the vault (12.000) while Justine Ace de Leon 45th in the rings (12.200) where only the top eight in each individual event advanced to the finals.