By REY C. LACHICA
PARIS – Still grateful, happy and have no regrets at all.
That was what gymnast Carlos Yulo said after missing his first shot at glory in the Paris Olympics at the famed Bercy Arena here.
“Grateful ako kasi naitawid ko ang competition na walang masamang nangyari sa akin kaya super happy ako. No regrets kasi marami akong natutunan bilang all-rounder,” said Yulo after finishing 12th in the men’s individual all-around on Wednesday, July 31. “Maraming learnings at strategies akong nakuha.”
“Gaya ng sinabi ko, lahat na gagawin ko ay galing sa puso, tatangapin ko ang anumang resulta, malaglag ka man OK lang basta gawin mo lang lahat,” added Yulo who tallied 83.032 in six apparatus which was enough to better his performance in the Tokyo Games.
In that event, he failed to make to the finals after finishing a dismal 47th in the prelims.
But Yulo, 24, remained optimistic of winning one or two medals at the end of the competition so long as he improves his breathing, timing and execution.
“Yung breathing need ko i-improve para di ka magmadali at para smooth ang flow ng execution,” said Yulo, who plans to relax a bit on Thursday before making another try at his pet event – floor exercise – on Aug. 3.
The vault final is set Sunday also at the same venue near the iconic River Seine.
He admitted he made several mistakes even in the floor exercise and vault like the way he landed but the two-time world champion – floor exercise in 2019 and vault in 2022 – was not worried at all.
“Ito na yung moment na hinihintay natin so bigay na natin ng todo, may kunting pressure pero same mentality at same approach pa rin ang i-apply ko,” said Yulo.
There’s even no need to increase the degree of difficulty in those events, saying he needs only total focus and good breathing.
A miscalculation caused him to fall in the pommel horse that pulled him down in the standings in the event won by Japanese Oka Shinnosuke who looks like a rock star with his hair.
That cost him a lot, managing only 11.900.
Overall, Shinnosuke compiled 86.832 points to beat out Chinese Zhang Boteng (86.599) and Xiao Ruoteng (86.364) for the gold.
Filipino-British Jake Jarman wound up seventh overall with 84.565 but he is likely to give Yulo a fierce challenge for the gold in vault where the Filipino ace ended up fourth with 14.766.
The two are also likely to provide drama in the floor exercise after the Fil-British topped the event again with 14.900 and Yulo finishing seventh with 14.333 after a minor glitch in his routine.
Out to crowd them in the battle for the gold is sentimental favorite Illia Kovtun of Ukraine who posted 14.700.
Yulo also did well in the rings, collecting 13.933 to emerge third best, and also had a respectable showing in the parallel bars with 14.55. But he struggled a bit in the horizontal as he produced only 13.600.
