Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo had a phenomenal performance when he finished his campaign in the Baku leg of the 2023 FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup Series with two gold medals on Sunday in Azerbaijan.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion said this when Yulo won by fractions of a point after taking the men’s vault gold and added to his parallel bars’ triumph in a similar manner last Saturday.
The 23-year-old Yulo’s execution of a handspring double front pike for 15.033 points, followed by a Lopez vault for 14.833 points, gave him an average 14.933 points for the championship trophy.
“He is phenomenal. He is going to win medals in the Olympics,” said Carrion after talking to Yulo on the phone.
Yulo was ahead of Great Britain’s Harry Hepworth, who settled for silver with a score of 14.816, with the Filipino standout winning by just a fraction of a point.
Wai Hung Shek of Hong Kong settled for the bronze medal with a score of 14.716.
“He (Yulo) said that he is more motivated now to be an Olympic champion. And when he puts his mind on what he is doing, nandu’n na siya,” added Carrion.
Earlier, the 23-year-old Yulo came up with a more challenging stint in Day 1 when he upset multi-titled Ukrainian Illia Kovtun’s winning run in the parallel bars.
Kovtun, who was heavily favored after having won six straight World Cup crowns on the apparatus, was second behind Yulo.
The other weekend, Yulo took second place in the parallel bars in the Doha meet.
This time, Yulo showed a more superior execution marks to win by fractions of a point to the Ukrainan with a score 15.400 to Kovtun’s 15.366.
“The judges from Europe were looking for perfection and Carlos had to be perfect with his execution,” added Carrion.
The 4’1” Yulo returns to the Philippines on Tuesday for a short break and to be with his family.
Next month, he continues his quest to improve on his routine and his preparations to qualify for the Olympics when he joins the fourth and last edition of the World Cup in Cairo, Egypt on April 27.