Yulo a world champ again after gold in ‘new’ pet event, adds a silver to boot

Gold medallist Philippine’s Carlos Yulo celebrates winning the men’s vault final on the podium REUTERS/Kim Kyung-Hoon

MANILA, Philippines — Consider Carlos Yulo redeemed.

The Filipino gymnast collected a gold and a silver on Sunday, accomplishing in the 2021 FIG (International Gymnastics Federation) Artistic World Gymnastics Championships a mission he had hoped to fulfill in the Tokyo Olympics earlier this year.

The 21-year-old Yulo captured the gold medal in men’s vault at Kitakyushu City Gymnasium in Japan after posting an average of 14.916 to make up for failing to podium in his pet floor exercise the day before.

Yulo built his finish after a 15.033 in his second vault, where he posted the highest execution score. He tallied 14.800 in his first, trailing early leader Ukraine’s Nazar Chepurnyi by .066.

Japan’s Yonekura Hidenobu captured the silver after he scored an average of 14.866 (15.000, 14.733) while Israel’s Andrey Medvedev secured the bronze at 14.649 (14.533, 14.766).

His vault gold matched the finish had in the 2019 Worlds, where he ruled the gold in the floor exercise.But he topped his achievement from two years ago by adding a silver in the parallel bars, where he nearly made it a double-gold finish for the country.

Yulo had the early hold of the top spot after he scored a 15.300, built around 8.900 for execution and 6.400 for difficulty.

But he eventually settled for silver after China’s Hu Xuwei, the sixth gymnast to take the parallel bars, assembled a 15.466 on an 8.866 for execution and a 6.600 for difficulty to take the gold.

Another Chinese, Shi Cong, took the bronze medal with a score of 15.066, a 9.066 for execution and 6.000 for difficulty.

Japan’s Hashimoto Daiki finished fourth with a score of 15.000, 8.800 for execution and 6.200 for difficulty, while the American Yul Moldauer took fifth at 15.000, 8.600 for execution and 6.400 for difficulty.

Yulo surrendered his floor exercise throne on Saturday after a wobbly sequence that cost him a penalty worth 0.3 points. Had he finished cleanly, Yulo would have successfully defended his floor exercise crown as Nicola Bartolini copped the gold medal with a score of 14.800. Yulo totaled 14.566.

Japanese Kazuki Minami took the floor silver after tallying 14.766 while Finn Emil Soravuo placed third after a 14.700.

Yulo’s gold in the vault may have shifted his pet event in gymnastics. Long known for his floor exercise routine, Yulo has found more success in the vault.

In the Tokyo Olympics, a wobbly landing saw Yulo crashing out in the preliminaries of the floor. He did make the final in the vault, finishing a fighting fourth after nearly clinching a spot in the podium.