CARLOS Edriel Yulo emerged a medal potential for the Philippines in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics following a strong showing in the FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Baku, Azerbaijan where he won the silver medal in the men’s vault.
Yulo finished with 14.183 points behind gold winner Pavel Bulavsky of Belarus, who finished with 14.283 points. Konstantin Kuzovkov of Georgia bagged the bronze medal of the meet that featured 102 gymnasts from 25 countries.
The four-day event ended Monday at the National Gymnastics Arena.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion said the silver medal finish at the world level is a step in the right direction for Yulo.
“He is doing so well. It’s a step forward to 2020 Olympics,” said Carrion in a statement. “Hoping by 2020, be ready for gold.”
Yulo, 18, is best remembered for bucking an ankle injury to top the parallel bars of the 14th Asian Junior Gymnastics Championships in Thailand last year. He beat heavily favored bets Kateru Kitazono of Japan and Chen Yihao for the gold.
He was supposed to anchor the country’s gymnastic bid in last year’s Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, where he was tipped to win at least five gold medals, but was disqualified by the Malaysian Organizing Committee (MASOC) for being underaged.
Yulo will next see action in another competitive tournament in Doha two weeks from now where he hopes to also win a medal, according to Carrion.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
