Carlos Yulo adds two more golds as PH rises to 2nd

Gymnastics – 2023 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships – Sportpaleis, Antwerp, Belgium – October 7, 2023 Philippines’ Carlos Edriel Yulo in action on the floor during the men’s apparatus finals REUTERS/Yves Herman

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. He finished ahead of Abdulaziz Mirvaliev of Uzbekistan (14.783) and Malaysia’s Muhammad Sharul Aimy (14.466).

READ: Carlos Yulo, now king of Asia, eyes Paris Olympics throne

Juancho Miguel Besana, the Filipino champion in the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games last year, again barely missed the podium 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.

The 24-year-old ace from Leveriza, Manila, claimed three gold medals in 2022 in Doha, Qatar, and in 2023 in Singapore.

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.

READ: Carlos Yulo hauls four golds at Asian Championships

That alone will be a huge confidence booster in his buildup for the Paris Olympics as Yulo aims to redeem himself for coming home empty-handed from the Tokyo Summer Games.

Following in his older brother’s footsteps, Karl Eldrew Yulo won the gold in the junior category of the Asian championships.

Barely missing victory in the vault during the previous continental showpiece, Karl captured his first gold medal in the Asian championships.

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).

Karl 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.

The Yulo siblings propelled Team Philippines to second overall among 11 countries with five gold medals behind powerhouse Chin’s haul of six golds, six silvers 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). INQ