Carlos Yulo snags floor exercise gold in Doha

MANILA, Philippines — Carlos Yulo scored a breakthrough on Friday as he struck gold in his pet event floor exercise in the 15th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Doha, Qatar.

Having qualified second to Israel's Artem Dolgopyat entering the final, the former world champion turned in a phenomenal exercise as he leapfrogged to the lead with 14.833.

Yulo performed an exercise that garnered 6.5 points in difficulty. He scored 8.333 in execution to blow the competition away.

His routine featured a triple full side pass, and closed with a 3.5 twist. The official FIG Twitter commented on Yulo's "terrific execution" throughout the routine.

Carlos Yulo ???????? turned in a phenomenal exercise, scoring 14.833 for the lead! He began with a 2.5 twist to front double pike. There was also a triple full side pass, 1.5 twist to Randi, and a 3.5 twist to close. Terrific execution throughout. Fabulous #Gymnastics. #FIGWorldCup pic.twitter.com/Ck6gKsTas4

— FIG (@gymnastics) March 3, 2023

Coming in second was Kazuki Minami, two-time floor exercise gold medalist in the World Cup, with a score of 14.200.

Great Britain's Luke Whitehouse completed the podium with 13.966.

Yulo's win in Doha redeems the gymnast after failing to make the finals of the said event in the World Cup in Germany last week. There, the highlight of his performance was a bronze medal in parallel bars.

The Filipino gymnast will have more chances to sweeten his campaign in Doha when he competes in the parallel bars and vault finals on Saturday.