Save for little floor routine tweak, Carlos Yulo happy with form

The Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Yulo competes during the Men’s Vault final at the World Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, northern England on November 6, 2022. (Photo by Ben Stansall / AFP) / RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE – PUBLICATION OF SEQUENCES IN EXCESS OF 5 IMAGES/SECOND IS PROHIBITED

Except for a few enhancements in the floor exercise, Carlos Yulo doesn’t see the need for a drastic upgrade in his other routines.

“I just need to work on improving my floor routine,’’ Yulo told the Inquirer on Friday during the inauguration of the new Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) grassroots gym at Rizal Memorial Sports Complex, a stone’s throw away from his family home in Leveriza in Manila.

“I think I’ll be good in my other events,’’ added Yulo, who took a much-needed breather at home before the final leg of the (International Gymnastics Federation) FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series resumes in Cairo, Egypt late next month.

Yulo claimed two gold medals in the vault and parallel bars of the previous leg of the World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan last week. Two weeks ago, the Japan-based 23-year-old ruled the floor exercise in Doha, Qatar apart from landing a silver in the parallel bars and a bronze in the vault.

“It didn’t start well for me, but I was able to recover in the succeeding legs,’’ said Yulo after missing the podium in the vault where he was the 2021 world champion and the floor finals during the Feb. 23-26 kick-off leg in Cottbus, Germany.

He didn’t leave the German city empty-handed though, salvaging bronze in the parallel bars behind tournament favorite Illia Kovtun of Ukraine and Italy’s Matteo Levantesi.

Yulo’s series of medal performances in the parallel bars in the three world cup legs has installed the 4-foot-11 fireball at second overall in the apparatus, giving him a sure appearance in the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium on Sept. 30 to Oct. 8.

Yulo answers questions from the press. | @MeloFuertesINQ pic.twitter.com/i9hbo32sOR

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“So far, I’m healthy. There will be no rest for me even here [in Manila]. Continuous training until the World Cup in Cairo,’’ said Yulo, who will fly back to Japan on March 27 with coach Munehiro Kugimiya.

Yulo and Kugimiya attended the launching of the new training center for grassroots gymnastics where the Japanese government donated $133,835 (roughly P7 million) to install top-of-the-line equipment.

Koshikawa Kazuhiko, the Ambassador of Japan to the Philippines, and GAP president Cynthia Carrion led the ribbon-cutting ceremony along with former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, Commissioner Walter Torres of the Philippine Sports Commission, MVP Sports Foundation executive director Jude Turcuato and Philippine Olympic Committee deputy secretary general Carl Sambrano.