Carlos Yulo Bags Gold At The World Championships

Congratulations, Carlos Yulo!

2021 is proving to be the year that just keeps giving to Philippine athletics. We’re still reeling from the celebrations from the Olympics, and are now thrilled about Carlos Yulo’s gold at the 2021 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, which was held at the Kitakyushu City Gymnasium in Japan. 

Yulo bagged the gold medal at the men’s vault competition, thanks to his execution of the Kasamatsu double twist and a Dragulescu—which is considered one of the hardest elements that can be done on the vault. After his performance, Yulo was scored an average of 14.916, which surpassed Japan’s Yonekura Hidenobu, who ranked second with a close score of 14.866. This is Yulo’s first vault medal at the World’s Gymnastics Championship. 

But as if that podium finish wasn’t enough, Yulo went on to participate in the men’s parallel bars with the same goal. After scoring a 15.300 in the event, a second gold seemed well within reach. But as Chinam’s Hu Xuwei took the stage and was given a score of 15.466, Yulo took home the silver instead. 

Carlos Yulo’s outstanding performance in Japan has made him the first Filipino to obtain more than one medal at the world championship during a single staging of the tournament. 

These medals come after the 21-year-old athlete didn’t obtain a podium finish at the Olympics earlier this year, as well as a surprising 5th place rank at the World Championship’s floor exercise. A drastic 0.3 deduction was implemented due to Yulo stepping out of bounds, which lowered his event score to 14.566 on Saturday, October 23. It was especially surprising as Yulo was the current title holder before it was given to Italy’s Nicola Bartolini, who scored a 14.800.

Congratulations, Carlos Yulo! You and all the rest of the Philippine athletes make continue to make us proud. 

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