By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo left his training camp in Paris, France for Liverpool, England Tuesday, Oct. 25, determined to equal or surpass his previous stint at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
This year’s edition will take place in the on Oct. 29 to Nov. 6, giving the diminutive world champion more time to polish his routines in all six events he would be participating in.
And he needed to.
For one, he and his Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya have tweaked some of his routines with hopes of earning higher scores against rivals all eager to stamp their class in the event.
“Sa rings and floor exercise, nag-upgrade po kami. Sa vault, nag-try po kami ng new element. Seventy to 75 percent, nagagawa ko na yung mga new elements kaya medyo nag-ii-struggle pa rin po,” said Yulo during a virtual press briefing Monday night, Oct. 24.
He added that trying new techniques would not only increase his medal chances but would also help in their preparation for the 2024 Paris Olympics qualification, which will start in February next year.
Eclipsing his medal haul in Kitakyushu, Japan last year – a gold in vault and silver in parallel bars – was easier said than done.
“Sa floor exercise, sasali yung nag-gold sa Tokyo Olympics at mga finalists. Sa vault, maraming malalakas from Great Britain and US. Parallel bars, mga Chinese na nag-gold sa Olympics and yung Turkish guy,” said Yulo, referring to Tokyo Olympics podium finishers Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, Rayderley Zapata of Spain, China’s Xiao Ruoteng, Fehrat Arican of Turkey and Zou Jingyuan of China, to name a few.
“Maraming rivals na mas higit pa sa akin at magagaling na atleta ang sasali ngayon, pero bandang huli babagsak pa rin sa mindset ko sa araw na yun yung chance ko na mag-medal. Kaya kailangan, hindi ako magpatalo sa sarili ko.”
Kugimiya, who has been with Yulo for years now, is optimistic of his stalwart.
“Normally, he has ups and downs. Now in Paris, he’s trying his best,” the Japanese mentor said.
