By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo guns for another shot at glory that will cement his world class status when he competes in the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England Monday, Oct. 31.
The men’s qualification begins at 9:30 a.m. (6:30 p.m. Manila time) with Yulo seeking to advance to the finals in all six apparatus and the individual all-around event.
Twenty-four berths are at stake in the individual all-around finals, while eight spots in each apparatus.
The individual all-around final is set on Friday, Nov. 4, while apparatus finals will be on Nov. 5 and 6.
Unlike last year where he competed in only three apparatus, the 22-year-old Yulo will see action in all events with hopes of eclipsing his one gold, one silver-medal haul in Kitakyushu, Japan.
He is the reigning world champion in vault and No. 2 in parallel bars. He finished fifth in his pet event, floor exercise.
Yulo expects stiff competition this time with the presence of Tokyo Olympians and medalists.
Among those are reigning Olympic champion in floor exercise Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, and silver and bronze winners Rayderley Zapata of Spain and Xiao Ruoteng of China.
There is also Zou Jingyuan of China, who won the Olympic gold in parallel bars.
Yulo, however, is unfazed.
“Maraming magagaling na atleta na kasali, pero magkakatalo lang dun sa kung ano ang mindset at nararamdaman ko sa competition,” said Yulo. “Kailangan hindi ako magpatalo sa sarili ko.”
For this year’s world championship, Yulo trained in Paris, France for five days to acclimatize to the time difference from Japan where he is based.
While the event does not offer individual berths for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Yulo said the tournament is the right opportunity for him to raise the degree of difficulty in his routines particularly in vault and floor exercise.
“Matindi na rin po kasi yung competition,” Yulo said.
Yulo first made heads turn in 2018 when he became the first male Southeast Asian and Filipino to win a world championship medal. In that edition, he bagged the floor exercise bronze.
He returned in 2019 to capture the first world championship gold medal in floor exercise.
