CALOY Yulo made heads turn in qualifying at the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships after being in contention to capture four medals.
An article in the official website of the competition described Yulo as pulling off a “storming set of performances” after making it to the finals of the men’s all-around, floor, vault, and parallel bar.
The 22-year-old Yulo, however, was quick to play down his showing in the qualifiers.
“It’s a really good result but it’s just qualifying,” Yulo said in an interview with 2022worldgymnastics.com. “I’m not boasting, it’s just not the final. If I can do it in the final then maybe I can be satisfied."
[READ: Yulo reaches four finals at world championship]
"Right now, I’m really glad but not that satisfied because there are lot of areas that I can improve on, especially pommel horse,” he added.
Yulo scored 84.664 to finish third in the men’s all-around qualification, on pace to improving his 10th place ranking in the 2019 final. Only Wataru Tanigawa of Japan (84.731), and Tokyo Olympics gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto of Japan (84.665) had better scores as Yulo fell just 0.001 points away from equaling second place.
Yulo, as expected, placed first in the floor exercise with 15.266, while placing fourth in the parallel bars with a 15.300.
His performance in the vault where he is defending the crown was also talked about, good for second place after scoring 14.849 buoyed on a new element.
“Vault is really scary. That’s my first time doing the Ri Se Gwang - handspring on, pike off - so that’s really big for me. It gave me confidence to compete in the finals and p-bars, I’m really glad I made it to the finals. Today, I didn’t lose to myself and I’m really grateful for that,” said Yulo.
Yulo made it to the men’s all-around finals after finishing just 102nd in the pommel horse where he fell, hurting his wrist in the process.

“On my two podiums, I didn’t make it until dismount so it was obvious that I was going to fall. My wrists are painful and I cannot really put 100% in. It happens but it’s alright, there’s nothing to be negative about – just move on. I switched my focus to the things I can still do,” said Yulo.
The men’s all-around final will be on Friday, with the apparatus finals set on Saturday and Sunday.
“I’m going to try to beat what I did today. I’m going to be more aggressive. There are still areas that aren’t perfect. Every movement still has a deduction but I’ll try my best. My goal is to show my gymnastics to the world,” Yulo said.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph