By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo redeemed himself from last week’s forgettable performance by capturing the spectators’ hearts – and the gold medal – in the floor exercise of the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar Friday, March 3.
The 23-year-old Tokyo Olympian wowed the judges with an elegant routine highlighted by a two and a half twist to front double pike, a triple full side pass, a one and a half twist to Randi and a three and a half twist to gain the highest score of 14.833.
His performance was a marked improvement from last week’s showing in the first leg of the series held in Cottbus, Germany, where he failed to progress in the final after scoring only 13.400 that pulled him down to 20th place in the qualifications.
Yulo made his gold-medal campaign felt last Thursday, March 2, when he came in second in the qualifications with 14.500.
Japan’s Minami Kazuki bagged the silver medal with 14.200 while Great Britain’s Luke Whitehouse copped the bronze with 13.966.
First leg winner Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, who topped the qualifications, withdrew from the event and was replaced by first reserve Chen Zhilong.
Yulo guns for two more gold medals when he competes in the vault and parallel bars finals on Saturday, March 4.
