WEDNESDAY could be the best day of Carlos Yulo's life. Or one of the worst.
The Filipino gymnastics star, a former world champion, begins his quest for a medal as competition in one of the Games' most popular sports reaches fever pitch with the men’s all-around final at the Bercy Arena.
This will be Yulo's first of three cracks at a medal. He is also in the finals of the floor exercises and the vault.
Unfortunately, the event is not one of Yulo's favorites and he will vie against 23 other all-arounders at 5:30 p.m. Paris time (11:30 p.m. Manila time).
Unlike in the floor exercise where he was once a world champion, a medal in the all-around will be a daunting task which Yulo admitted in an interview before leaving for France last June.
The all-around is the toughest of all gymnastics events as one will perform all the apparatuses -- vault, beam, bars, floor, etc. Yulo said that his goal is simply to improve on his other apparatus in order to become a better all-arounder in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.
“Marami pa po akong kailangan trabahuin talaga,” said Yulo last month. “Maraming malalakas na all-arounder. Tatry ko ‘yung best ko na umabot sa ganung level katulad nila.”
“Sa next Olympics, ibubuhos ko lahat at itatry ko at lebelan ko at tapatan po talaga o higitan pa man kung anong meron sila,” said Yulo.
Yulo finished ninth among 24 finalists in the qualification round, totaling 83.631 including a No. 2 finish in the floor with a score of 8.466.
Daiki Hashimoto is the top favorites and will be going for his second straight gold in the men’s individual all-around on Wednesday. The Japanese gymnast already has a gold medal in the team all-around, and will be vying for this second mint in this Games, this time as an individual.
Hashimoto finished third in the qualifiers with a score of 85.064.
Tokyo silver medalist Ruoteng Xiao of China was fourth in the qualifiers after an 84.898, and also has a medal in the bag in Paris by placing silver in the team all-around.
Also standing in the way of Yulo’s bid for a medal on Wednesday is Zhang Boheng, a world champion in the individual all-around in 2021. He topped the qualifications with a score of 88.597.
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