Yulo claims gold, silver

MANILA, Philippines — After Caloy Yulo’s heartbreaking performance in the Tokyo Olympics last July, he vowed to come back strong.

He did just that yesterday, winning a gold and a silver just an hour apart in the 50th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.

In a leap of faith, the 21-year-old Filipino slew the ghost of the Tokyo Games and delivered the gold medal in the vault event.

Yulo, the pocket-sized wonder from Leveriza, Manila, captured the gold by garnering an average score of 14.916 after a 14.800 in his first attempt and a 15.033 in the next.

He bested all comers, including Japan’s Hidenobu Yonekura and Israel’s Andrey Medvedev, who settled for the silver and bronze with scores of 14.866 and 14.649, respectively.

Then Yulo capped his impressive campaign by grabbing the silver in the parallel bars where he garnered a score of 15.300. Chinese Hu Xuwei took the gold with a 15.466 while compatriot Shi Cong pocketed the bronze with a 15.066.

Yulo became the first gymnast from Southeast Asia to win a gold medal in the world event following his victory in the floor exercise two years ago in Stuttgart, Germany.

And now, he has two golds plus a silver in his pocket.

It was an unexpected triumph for Yulo, who came to the finals with the third best score in the qualifiers while reeling from a stinging fifth-place finish in his pet event, the floor exercise, the other day.

Yulo went out of bounds and was denied a second straight gold in the floor exercise following his 2019 triumph.

The victory for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games double-gold medalist helped heal his wounds from his painful Tokyo Olympics stint where he failed to bring home a medal.

But Yulo emerged triumphant this time.

Yulo joined the distinguished list of Filipino athletes who conquered the world stage this year – Tokyo Olympics weightlifting gold medal winner Hidilyn Diaz, US Open women’s golf champion Yuka Saso and US Open Pool king Carlos Biado.

Most significant of all, Yulo gained the needed confidence as he trains his sights on the 2024 Paris Olympics where he will take another crack at the gold.