No podium finish for Yulo in all-around event
FROM the bottom of the standings at the start of the men’s artistic gymnastics all-around finals, Carlos Yulo of the Philippines climbed 12 places up to finish at 12th place overall early Friday morning (Manila time) at the Paris Olympics.
There was no podium finish for the Filipino gymnast but Yulo fulfilled his promise to have a better and stronger showing compared to his previous Olympic stint in Tokyo.
The 24-year-old Yulo garnered 83.032 points in the all-around despite a fall from the pommel horse at the start of the competition at the Bercy Arena in Paris.
“All of my competition will serve as my revenge from the past Olympics. I was frustrated that time (Tokyo Games) since I did not perform the way I wanted to perform but now I am learning with every mistake, and with every competition that I joined,” the 4-foot-11 Yulo told The Manila Times in May when he was still preparing for the Paris Games.
In Tokyo, Yulo failed to qualify in the all-around finals but reached the vault finals where he placed fourth.
After faltering in the pommel horse event, Yulo received a low score of 11.900 and was ranked 24th in the field.
“Okay lang,” Yulo consoled himself, and remained composed after an early dismount in the pommel horse.
He, however, bounced back with a score of 13.933 points in the still rings apparatus.
In his previous interviews, Yulo admitted that the pommel horse and the rings are his two weakest events. With those two out of the way, the Filipino gymnast began to wow the crowd starting in his favorite vault event where he scored 14.766 points after executing a double pike and a half twist.
He performed a clean routine at the high bar and received a score of 13.600 points.
With nothing to lose, Yulo gave his all in the floor exercise and was quick on his feet after a slight misstep that earned him 14.333 points.
Despite missing the podium in the allaround event, Yulo will still compete for the gold in the floor exercise on August 3 and the vault on August 4.
Yulo made a strong start on his Olympic medal bid after making it to the Top 8 of the vault and floor exercise event last Sunday.
He ranked second in the floor exercise, scoring 14.766 points (6.300 in difficulty and 8.466 in execution) and sixth in vault with 14.683 points.
Yulo, a world champion in floor exercise in 2019 and vault in 2021, will try to finish strong in the finals of these two events in the Paris Games.