Carlos Yulo came good as advertised, as he essayed another golden performance in the individual all-around category in the men’s artistic gymnastics of the 30th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games before a big Sunday crowd at the Rizal Memorial Coliseum.
Yulo did not disappoint the pro-Filipino weekend crowd who watched him live for the first time, as he tallied 84.900 in the six routines to beat Dinh Phuong Thanh of Vietnam (82.350) with plenty to spare for the gold medal.
The bronze medal went to another Vietnamese, Le Thanh Tung, who finished with an 81.700 score.
Yulo was ahead of the pack in the floor exercise as he collected 14.650 to top Dinh’s 13.900.
In the pommel horse, the 19-year-old Yulo was also impressive with a 13.600 score before settling for second in the still rings also at 13.600.
Yulo received 14.550 for second place in the vaults while his performance in the parallel bars got him a 14.400 score.
Yulo’s top two finishes in each of the routines earned him a finals stint in all of the six apparatus, thus enabling him to gun for a sweep in the men’s artistic gymnastics, where seven golds are at stake.
The women take center stage today Monday with the start of the artistic gymnastics competitions also at the Rizal Coliseum.
Yulo delivered an historic win at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championship early this year that earned him a place in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
He is the first Filipino and the first male Southeast Asian gymnast to win in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships with his bronze medal finish for the floor exercise finals in the 2018 edition, and the first ever gold medal for the Philippines in the 2019 edition.