By MARK REY MONTEJO
Carlos Yulo showed readiness for the nearing Paris Olympics after winning the gold medal in the men’s individual all-around event of the 2024 AGU Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on Thursday, May 16.
The 24-year-old Yulo posted 84.931 points to secure the gold while Kazakhstan’s Mulad Karimi (84.632) and hometown bet Abdullah Azimov (82.431) settled for silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Yulo made his presence felt against top Asian gymnasts, including his compatriot Juancho Besana (75.780) who finished at 11th place.
Yulo’s stellar performance served as a warning shot to his Olympic rivals and a fitting follow up to his one gold and one silver in the FIG Apparatus World Cup in Doha last month.
It was a sort of redemption for Yulo in the said event after settling for a silver medal in two consecutive years. In the last edition held in Singapore, he fell behind Japanese Shinnosuke Oka, while in 2022 it was China’s Shi Cong who reigned in Doha, Qatar.
The pride of Malate, Manila is competing in the continental joust with Besana, John Ivan Cruz, Justine De Leon, Jhon Santillan as the senior team. They finished fifth place in the team all-around.
As expected, Yulo qualified in the final round of five events including floor exercise and still rings which are set on Saturday, May 18. Vault, parallel bars and horizontal ball are slated on Sunday, May 19.
Cruz and Besana will vie in the floor exercise and vault finals, respectively.
His younger brother, Karl Eldrew, who is the lone representative in the men’s junior team, will compete in the qualifiers later Friday.
