Filipino Olympian Carlos Edriel Yulo qualified in the finals of men’s vault and floor exercise events on Monday at the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Yulo topped the men’s vault with 14.750 points, followed by Armenian Arthur Davtyan (14.566) and Ukrainian Nathan Chepurnyi (14.316) in Subdivision 7 at the Indonesia Arena.
In the floor exercise, he scored 14.560 points for second place behind Fil-British Jake Jarman (14.700). American Kameron Nelson (14.30) ranked third.
“First of all, I want to thank God for my performance. I am also just grateful that I was safe (from any mishap). I am just really grateful that I got to compete, show my performance, and come back here in a good state,” said Yulo, who won the same events at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
“While I wasn’t able to do the all-around, I am still proud that I am here and still aiming for the best,” he added.
Yulo, recovering from a wrist injury, will compete in the floor exercise finals on Friday and the vault the next day.
“We’re proud that Carlos was able to perform well and make it to the finals of both events. This was our aim so hopefully, he will duplicate his golden performances in Paris,” said Gymnastics Association of the Philippines President Cynthia Carrion.
“We pray that our Filipino fans back home will pray and rally behind him once again in both finals,” she added.
Meanwhile, Yulo’s teammates failed to hurdle their respective qualifying events.
Juancho Miguel Besana was 39th in the all-around with 68.645 points; Ivan Cruz placed 66th in the vault with 12.000 points, while Justine Ace de Leon finished 45th in the rings with 12.200 points. (PNA)
