By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo tries to make the most out of his Tokyo Olympics debut when he guns for a podium finish in the men’s vault of the artistic gymnastics Monday at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.
Yulo, 21, earned one of the eighth berths to the finals last July 24 when he finished sixth in the qualifications behind two-time world champion Shin Jea-hwan of Korea and 2019 European Games winner Artur Davtyan of Armenia.
Shin, a heavy favorite to win the Olympic gold in this apparatus, scored 14.866 with a 6.000 degree of difficulty on his first vault and 5.600 on his second. Davtyan posted a similar score with 5.600 degree of difficulty in both vaults.
Yulo, for his part, qualified with a 14.712 score with 5.600 degree of difficulty on both vaults.
But expect that the degree of difficulty would increase for all eight qualifiers now that the precious metals are at stake.
Also competing for the podium are Russian Olympic Committee’s Nikita Nagornyy and Denis Abliazin, Turkey’s Adem Asil and Ahmet Onder, and Brazil’s Caio Souza.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines President Cynthia Carrion said Yulo needs the same 5.600 degree of difficulty in order for the country’s beat to have a shot at the podium.
Yulo tries to move on from his unsuccessful campaign in the floor exercise where he was the clear favorite to dominate after finishing 44th in the qualifications.
