PH gymnast Yulo wins anew, bags silver in Qatar tilt

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo is on a roll on the global stage after winning his third medal in the world cup within a month.

The 18-year-old Olympic medal hope impressed the judges and bagged the silver medal in the men’s floor exercise of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup on Saturday at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar.

Yulo, an awardee of the Phoenix Siklab Youth Sports Awards next month, scored 14.433 in the finals for his third consecutive medal immediately after going up the senior ranks last month.

He also got a silver in the men’s vault competitions of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan last week and secured a bronze in the same event during the Melbourne leg of the FIG Artistic Individual Apparatus World Cup series.

“Caloy turned senior just a month ago and won consecutive medals in three world championships,” said Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion. “I feel so secured that he will make it to the 2020 Olympics and get a medal.”

“He competed with polished and experienced gymnasts with senior world-class skills. We never had a gymnast like Caloy before,” added Carrion, also a board member of the Philippine Olympic Committee.

Dmitrii Lankin of Russia claimed the gold medal (14.733) and Ryohei Kato of Japan copped the bronze (14.200) in Doha where the world championships for the discipline will be held on Oct. 25-Nov. 3.

According to Carrion, Yulo will get to train with the best gymnasts in the Japanese national athletes training center in his buildup for the Olympics through the help of FIG president Morinari Watanabe.

Backed by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Siklab Atleta Pilipinas Sports Foundation Inc., Yulo also qualified in the finals of the men’s vault set late Saturday.