AUGUST 3, 2024 could be a red-letter day for the Philippines in Olympic history as Carlos Yulo enters in the second of three final events in men’s artistic gymnastics.
Yulo competes in the floor exercise apparatus final on Saturday, 3:30 p.m. Paris time (9:30 p.m. Manila time) at the Bercy Arena where expectations are high for the Filipino gymnast to claim a gold medal.
Carlo Paalam and Aira Villegas, on the other hand, are also seeking to clinch a medal in their quarterfinal bouts of their respective division at the North Paris Arena in Day Eight of the Olympics.
EJ Obiena, the other big gun of Team Philippines in this year’s Olympics, will also be in action at 10:10 a.m. (4:10 p.m. Manila time) in men’s pole vault qualification at the Stade De Paris in what could be a fruitful day for the delegation in Paris.
Caloy goes for gold
But with still no medal at stake in Obiena’s event, all the focus will be on Yulo, who has a chance to win the country’s second Olympic gold medal in history in the event where he is a specialist ever since, having won the apparatus’ world title in 2019 in Stuttgart, Germany.
Yulo is in line to land in the podium after excellent performances during the all-around where he finished second in the qualification with a score of 14.766, and seventh in the final with a 14.333.
In this Olympics, Yulo has yet to score in the 15s, a routine for him in past competitions. It could serve as a good omen though since it could mean Yulo still has something up his sleeve.
Still, the battle for the gold medal is expected to be wide open.
Great Britain’s Jake Jarman, whose mother has Filipino roots in Cebu, has proved he can win it all after being first in the qualification with a 14.966, and in the final with a 14.900.
Reigning Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel barely made it to the final after finishing seventh in the qualifications, but is the fresher gymnast for competing for medals exclusively in the floor exercise.
Also entered in the final are individual all-around silver medalist Zhang Boheng of China, Rayderley Zapata of Spain, Illia Kovtun of Ukraine, Luke Whitehouse of Great Britain, and Milad Karimi of Kazakhstan.
Individual all-around gold medaist Oka Shinnosuke of Japan, Ryu Shunghyun of Korea, and Joel Plata of Spain serve as reserves.
Paalam, Villegas eye semis, sure spot at podium
At the same exact time that Yulo is competing in the floor, Paalam will be slugging it out atop the ring against Charlie Senior of Australia, the fourth-seed pug in the men’s 57kg division, in their bout at 3:30 p.m. (9:30 p.m. Manila time).
After a unanimous decision win over Jude Gallagher of Ireland to start off his quest to surpass his silver medal output in Tokyo three years ago on a high note, Paalam will face a 31-year-old professional fighter in Senior, who has accumulated a 19-1-1 win-loss-no contest record over his nine-year career including seven knockouts.
Senior competed during last year’s Pacific Games and earned a berth in Paris by ruling the Olympic qualifying tournament was also held during the multisport event.
Villegas will also look to clinch a podium finish, or at least a bronze medal, in her women’s 50kg quarterfinal bout against French pugilist Wassila Lkhadiri of France, the No. 7 seed in the tournament.
The bout is at 9:20 p.m. (Sunday, 3:20 a.m. Philippine time)
The morale is high for Villegas, who upset No. 2 Roumaysa Boualam of Algeria on the same day as her 29th birthday.
Obiena guns for finals seat
Also on Saturday, Obiena will look to book a place in the final to be held on August 5 at 7 p.m. (August 6, 1 a.m. Philippine time).
In Tokyo, Obiena also reached the final and eventually finished 11th.
Obiena is part of 31 pole vaulters who will be vying to reach the 5.80m threshold or the top 12 to qualify in the final.
Concerns over Obiena’s health has come out after the world No. 2 revealed he has been battling “physical problems” over the past few months.
Philippine Athletics Track and Field Association president Terry Capistrano though allayed those fears, assuring that Obiena is being well taken care off by his team.
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