Carlos Yulo during the floor exercise in men’s gymnastics of the 30th Southeast Asian Games. Photo by Tristan Tamayo/INQUIRER.net
TOKYO—Carlos Yulo, one of the country’s brightest hopes for a gold medal, won’t pull off a stunt that a gymnastics official described as a sure win but is still on track to end the Philippines’ quest for Olympic glory.
“He is looking really good right now and was doing very well in practice today,” Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carreon said on Thursday.
Carreon added that Yulo has fully recovered from a mild injury he suffered two weeks ago, not on Wednesday as reported, when he was trying to perfect a difficult maneuver in his pet floor exercise event.
“He was trying to do the triple back and double forward and I am 101 percent sure that would have been a sure gold if he perfected it,” Carreon said.
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But his Japanese coach, Munehiro Kugimiya, said they won’t include the move in his routine anymore after Yulo injured himself trying the stunt.
“He fell short and got injured,” Carrion said. “His coach said they won’t include it in his routine anymore because if they don’t execute it properly he might get disqualified.”
But Carrion said that in Thursday’s practice, Yulo was nailing his routine and the reigning world champion was flaunting a form dripping with gold medal potential.
“He’s ready,” added Carrion.
Yulo begins his gold hunt at Ariake Gymnastics Centre here on Saturday.