Gymnast Karl Eldrew Yulo. –JUNE NAVARRO
Winning everything at the Palarong Pambansa has become a typical setting for gymnast Karl Eldrew Yulo.
The younger sibling of world champion Carlos Yulo expectedly topped the field in the secondary boys’ artistic gymnastics by clinching the gold medal in the individual all-around at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex Gymnastics Center.
Yulo compiled 46.25 points to secure a fourth consecutive individual all-around title and his first in the secondary level in the ongoing Games for elementary and high school student-athletes nationwide.
“I knew I could win. Although there was a lot of pressure since everybody expected me to get the gold,’’ said Yulo, whose claim to fame was a silver medal in the men’s junior vault at the Asian Artistics Gymnastics Championships in Singapore two months ago.
The 15-year-old from Leveriza, Manila nearly perfected his routine in the floor exercise to earn 14.5 points, scored 13.25 in the vault and collected 9.4 and 9.1 in the mushroom and horizontal bar, propelling Yulo as the only gymnast in the field to reach the 45-point mark.
With Yulo’s dominance, the National Capital Region mightily asserted itself and grabbed all the medals at stake with teammates King Cjay Pernia (41.7 points) pocketing the silver and Hillarion Palles (39.85) securing the bronze.
Yulo has the ability to sweep all six golds in the finals of the four apparatuses on Friday along with the team event.
He carted away five golds in 2017 Antique, raked in four in Vigan 2018 and bagged five in Davao City 2019 prior to the COVID-19 pandemic that put the Palarong Pambansa in the freezer for three years.