By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Tokyo Games-bound Carlos Yulo and veteran Rayderley Zapata of Dominican Republic shared the No.1 ranking in the floor exercise based on the latest rankings released by the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG).
Yulo, who is debuting in next year’s Tokyo Olympics, and Zapata have tallied identical 70 points each based on their performances in elite tournaments since 2018 to emerge as the gymnasts to watch next year.
That bodes well to the country’s mission of finally ending the long search for the gold medal.
Yulo gained 20 points each after winning bronze in the 43rd Turnier Der Meister FIG Individual Apparatus World Cup in Cottbus, Germany in 2018 and the gold in the 2019 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar, and 30 points with his gold-medal feat in the 2019 Melbourne World Cup in Australia.
Russia’s Kirill Prokopev is third with 64 points, followed by Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat and Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi with 60 and 52 points.
Completing the Top 10 were Finland’s Emil Soravuo (48), Korea’s Ryu Sunghyun (48), Japan’s Kazuki Minami (46), Netherland’s Casimir Schmidt (46) and Great Britain’s Hayden Skinner (40).
The 20-year-old Yulo, who currently trains in Japan, made history last year after becoming the first Filipino and Southeast Asian to win the gold medal at the world artistic gymnastics in the floor exercise.
More than winning the gold medal, it earned for himself an Olympic berth which was rescheduled next year due to coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
He is fancied to deliver the country’s first Olympic gold medal along with fellow qualifiers pole vaulter EJ Obiena and boxers Eumir Marcial and Irish Magno.
Marcia showed his readiness for the quadrennial spectacle after carving out a four-round unanimous decision win in his pro debut.
Marcial dominated American Andrew Whitfield Thursday at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California.