FILE–The Philippines’ Carlos Yulo competes in the Men’s Floor Final during the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, in Antwerp, northern Belgium, on October 7, 2023. (Photo by Lionel BONAVENTURE / AFP)
Carlos Yulo was a cut above the rest after cornering the vault and parallel bars titles for a mighty four-gold collection at the conclusion of the 2024 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
The Filipino fireball revalidated his billing anew as the continent’s finest, counting those earlier victories in the individual all-around and floor exercise.
Yulo was on track to reign in the vault after a twin effort of 15.233 and 14.533 that netted an average of 14.883 points in subduing Abdulaziz Mirvaliev of Uzbekistan (14.783) and Malaysia’s Muhammad Sharul Aimy (14.466).
READ: Carlos Yulo dazzles in floor for second gold at Asian Championships
Juancho Miguel Besana, the Filipino champion in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last year, was off-loaded the medal stage after winding up with 14.15 points in fourth place.
The two-time world champion Yulo ended up fourth in the qualification in the parallel bars, but made everything count in the final with a 15.133 effort, bumping off China’s Yin Dehang (15.033) for the gold. Uzbekistan’s Rasuljon Abdurakhimov placed third with 14.866 points.
Yulo, the best performing male gymnast for the third edition in a row, ruled both the parallel bars and vault for the third straight year along with the floor exercise.
While the 24-year-old from Leveriza, Manila claimed these three gold medals in 2022 Doha, Qatar and 2023 Singapore, Yulo elevated his A-game by shadowing those efforts with four golds in Tashkent.
READ: Carlos Yulo, now king of Asia, eyes Paris Olympics throne
Although he couldn’t duplicate his bronze medal in the horizontal bar last year after ending up fourth with 13.433 points, it hardly mattered anyway since Yulo’s individual all-around win was a bigger feat in itself.
That alone will be a huge confidence booster in his buildup for the Paris Olympics two months from now as Yulo aims to redeem himself for coming home empty-handed from the Tokyo Summer Games.
Cut from the same cloth as his older brother, Karl Eldrew Yulo turned last year’s silver finish into gold in the junior category of the Asian championships.
Barely missing victory in the vault during the previous continental showpiece in Singapore, Yulo captured the ultimate prize this time for his first gold medal in the Asian champs.
The younger sibling of Carlos netted an average of 14.433 points after two attempts to defeat Kazakhstan’s Altynkhan Temirbek (14.183) and Sarvar Abulfaizov of Uzbekistan (13.766) in the eight-man finale.
Yulo nearly held the gold in the same apparatus last year, but lost to China’s Wang Chengcheng via a tiebreaker. Wang wound up sixth with 13.433 points this time.
After topping the qualifier in the event, Yulo catapulted himself to 14.7 and 14.166 points to seal the title.
The Yulo siblings propelled Team Philippines to second overall among 11 countries with five gold medals behind powerhouse China with six gold, six silver and three bronze medals at the end of the four-day meet. Kazakhstan placed third (3-4-2) and Japan finished fourth (2-1-2).