CARLOS Yulo is setting his sights on another historical performance in Day 9 of 2024 Paris Olympic Games.
Yulo returns to the Bercy Arena on Sunday where he vies for another gold medal, this time in the vault, in his final event of this Games.
Nesthy Petecio, on the other hand, looks to step closer to matching her silver medal in Tokyo when she competes in the quarterfinal round of the women’s 57kg division in boxing at the North Paris Arena.
John Cabang and Lauren Hoffman are also in action on Sunday in the athletics competitions at the Stade de France.
No Filipino has won two gold medals in Olympic history, and that’s exactly what Yulo will look to break on Sunday, 4:24 p.m. (10:24 p.m. Philippine time).
Yulo is fresh from his conquest in the floor exercise on Saturday in a historic victory, winning his first gold medal and second overall by the Philippines. It was also the first gold of the country in gymnastics, and first by a male.
Winning gold in vault isn’t far-fetched for Yulo after he won the world title in Kitakyushu, Japan. In that dismal performance during the Tokyo Olympics, Yulo somewhat salvaged his campaign by finishing fourth in the vault.
Yulo finished sixth during the qualifiers with a score of 14.699 to make it to the final where he will be facing a different set of gymnasts from those in the floor with the exception of Jake Jarman of Great Britain, who was the bronze medalist in the floor.
Jarman, whose mother has roots in Cebu, once against stands in the way of Yulo’s bid for a double gold, being the reigning world champion in the vault he won last year in Antwerp, Belguim. After finishing second in the qualifiers, Jarman took the top spot in the all-around final in the apparatus.
Artur Davtyan of Armenia also looks as a contender, being the world champion in 2022 in Liverpool. He finished seventh in the qualification with 14.666.
Also in the final are Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine, Harry Hepworth of Great Britain, Aurel Benovic of Croatia, Igor Radivilov of Ukraine, and Mahdi Olfati of Iran.
Petecio battles Chinese foe
As the last standing person from the Tokyo medalist in boxing, Petecio faces Xu Zichun of China in the quarterfinals at 3:30 p.m. Paris time (9:30 p.m. Manila time), with a victory assuring her of at least a bronze in this Games.
With Carlo Paalam’s exit on Saturday, Petecio will look to continue her campaign and her quest to maintain or surpass his silver medal finish three years ago.
Xu ousted No. 6 Valeria Arboleda Mendoza of Colombia on her way to arranging a final eight match against Petecio.
Hurdlers also on the schedule
Cabang goes first in the athletics competitions on Sunday as he is entered in Heat 1 of 5 in the men’s 110m hurdles at 11:50 a.m. Paris time (5:50 p.m. Manila time).
Hoffman follows in Heat 4 of 5 in the women’s 400m hurdles at 12:35 p.m. (6:35 p.m. Manila time).
Under a revised format to be implemented in this year’s Olympics, the top three placers in each of the heats, and the next three best times move to the semifinals outright, while the rest of the runners, except those who were a DNS (did not start), DNF (did not finish), or disqualified, will battle in the repechage for six more places in the semifinals.
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