Carlos Yulo delivers a superb performance in the floor exercise. POC Media
NAGOYA (Powered by PLDT Home)—Two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo had his ups and downs, but through all the turbulence, the Filipino gymnastics star kept his Asian Games gold-medal dream alive.
Yulo opened his campaign Monday at the Nagoya General Gymnasium Rainbow Hall, leading the floor exercise qualification with a superb 14.600. But hours later, he was fighting just to stay in contention for his vault specialty after a troublesome landing in his first attempt.
“Sobrang challenging today. Hindi ito ‘yung in-expect ko na preparation ko. Hindi siya lumabas talaga today. ‘Yung sa vault, hindi ko, hindi ko siya matanggap kanina,” said Yulo.
The 26-year-old Filipino also opened up about the mistakes that nearly derailed his qualification, including his failed vault landing and a fall on the high bar after failing to secure his grip.
There was also hard news off the competition floor, with Philippine Gymnastics Association president Cynthia Carrion leaving Nagoya after her husband Jerry Rollins died earlier in the day.
Still, Yulo pushed through to qualify for four finals — floor exercise, vault, parallel bars and the team event — giving him four more chances to grab the Asian Games gold medal that has slipped from his grasp.
Yulo’s first bid ended in disappointment after he placed 10th in the individual all-around standings.
Yulo was particularly sharp on floor, where he scored 14.600, the best in qualifying, to cement his status as the reigning Olympic champion in the event.
He also qualified for the parallel bars finals by placing sixth with 14.266.
But the vault turned out to be the biggest scare of the day. Yulo had a bad landing on his first attempt, which left him with an average of 13.649 and threatened his qualification. He did it on his second attempt and finally made it through to the final as the seventh qualifier.
“Hindi ‘yun ‘yung tamang pag-grab and nu’ng nalaglag ako, I was really disappointed but at the same time thankful and grateful na safe ako kanina kasi ‘yung ganu’ng pagkakamali, puwedeng matapos na ‘yung career ko,” he said.
“May finals pa, may chance pa, may chance tayo magka-medal,” said Yulo.
He explained that his high-bar routine was also part of an effort to challenge himself after bringing back the skill he had abandoned several years ago.
“Sa high bar din nahulog ako. After how many years po kasi, tinigil ko ‘yung skill na ‘yun. And then binalik ko siya ulit just to challenge po ‘yung sarili ko and mas makapag-look ng ibang perspective,” Yulo explained.
Despite a performance that fell short of his expectations, Yulo chose to focus on the positives, particularly his safety and the opportunity to continue competing for the Philippines.
“It’s just really trial and error pa din. And at the end of the day, I still did po ‘yung best ng makakaya ko,” he said.
His younger brother Karl Eldrew Yulo also made his presence felt, advancing to the floor exercise final in fourth place with 13.966 points.
Eldrew acknowledged the mistakes he made across several apparatuses but said he tried to reset mentally after every rotation.
“[Ang] nafe-feel ko po is grateful dahil lahat kami is safe and of course super proud din ako sa nangyari kanina. And dahil well may mga bagay din ako na hindi nagawa tulad ng pommel, sa rings, and of course sa p-bar. But I keep telling myself na change mood to change mood every time na nagcha-change kami ng apparatus to feel the other energy,” he said.
Eldrew placed ninth in the horizontal bar qualification with 13.433 points, but still advanced to the final because of the rule limiting each National Olympic Committee to two qualifiers per apparatus.
The younger Yulo also finished eighth overall in the individual all-around with 77.264 points.
Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Miguel Besana added another Philippine finals berth after qualifying fourth in the vault with 13.933 points.
The Philippines placed sixth in the team qualification with 232.093 points.