ADD an Asian Games gold to the growing medal case of Carlos Yulo.
The two-time Olympic champion gave the Philippines its first gold medal at the 20th Asian Games by ruling the floor exercise in men’s artistic gymnastics at the Nagoya General Gymnasium Rainbow Hall.
READ Carlos Yulo stands as top favorite in floor exercise final
The 26-year old Yulo won the gold in the same event where he captured his first Olympic title in Paris in 2024, garnering the only medal missing from his collection prior to Thursday’s apparatus final.
Yulo was only 18 when he placed seventh in his first Asian Games competition in 2018 in Jakarta, and missed the 2023 edition in Hangzhou as the multisport event coincided with the World Championships.
This time, the Manila-born gymnast garnered 14.666 during a near-perfect routine in the floor exercise to end the Asian Games dry spell, registering 5.7 in the difficulty score and 8.966 in the execution score.
Yulo still had to endure some nervy moments after the penultimate performer Shoma Tsukiyama of Japan also put on an excellent routine only to fall 0.1 short of the Filipino gymnast's score with his 14.566.
The final performer, Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan, recorded 14.600 to take the silver, behind Yulo by just 0.066.
Yulo can still add two more Asian Games gold medals to his collection with the finals of the vault, where he is also the Olympic champion, and parallel bars set for the last day of the apparatus finals on Friday.
Eldrew Yulo failed to complete a clean landing in the first element of his routine, the 18-year-old Asiad debutante finishing in seventh place with a score of 12.233.
The younger Yulo will still be in action on Friday in the horizontal bar final.
Miguel Besana also competed in the floor exercise final on Friday to round out the Philippines’ participation in artistic gymnastics.
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