Carlos Yulo during the men’s individual all-around at the 31st SEA Games. SEA GAMES POOL PHOTO
Filipino world champion Carlos Yulo has turned in the time to train and make his body as best prepared for the grind, but the 4-foot-11 dynamo believes that finishing with medals will all boil down to how tough his mental make-up is in the World Artistic Gymnastics that gets off the ground in five days.
“It is a battle of hearts. You have to put in 120 percent of your effort apart from a strong mindset,’’ said Yulo in Filipino during an online presser on Monday after wrapping up his training camp in Paris, France.
Yulo and his Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya are bound for Liverpool in the United Kingdom on Tuesday, after which they will embark in Caloy’s final push for a projected multiple medal finish in the world champs.
“I’m aiming to win three gold medals in my four events,’’ said the fireball, who seized the title in the vault in the worlds last year in Kitakyushu, Japan, where he also claimed a silver in the parallel bars.
Yulo was fifth last year in the floor exercise, the event that skyrocketed his popularity after a golden routine in the 2019 edition of the global championships in Germany.
While Yulo will definitely aim for the top, he was quick to emphasize that he knows who he will be going up against.
“I cannot really say what my chances are in my events,’’ said Yulo, who pointed out to Tokyo Olympic gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and podium finishers Rayderley Zapata of Spain (silver) and China’s Xiao Ruoteng (bronze) as formidable foes in the floor.
“In the vault, there are strong gymnasts from Great Britain and the United States who will also compete while in the parallel bars, the Chinese and Turkish competitors are the favorites,’’ added Yulo, who will likewise see action in the all-around where he doesn’t want to get everybody’s hopes up for a medal.
“I don’t know if I could make it in the Top 10, but my target is to get into the Top 6 (of the all-around),” Yulo said. “There are many rivals out there, so it’s going to be a big challenge.’’
Although the Liverpool world meet won’t be counted as a qualifying tourney for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yulo will use the event featuring the finest artistic gymnasts as part of the process to hone his skills further in time for the Olympic qualifiers.
The qualification for Paris begins February 2023 with at least four tournaments lined up for Yulo.
“I’m 70-75 percent ready and I do stumble quite often in training,” Yulo said. “It’s all about having a proper mindset when I perform these routines.’