A RARE and remarkable Olympic golden double.
This is what phenomenal gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo attained late Sunday night (Sunday afternoon in France) after ruling his other pet event, the vault, capping his historic men’s artistic gymnastics campaign on a resounding note in the Paris Olympic Games at the Bercy Arena.
Looking more relaxed and composed unlike when he ruled the floor exercise the previous day, the pint-sized Pinoy ace, competing as the third finalist, sizzled like the sunny Parisian weather on his first vault, scoring an eye-popping score of 15.433 points that carried him to victory.
“The most gorgeous piked double front half-out, oh my God. Small hop on the landing but that was so beautiful. Chest down on the landing,” gushed Gymternet analyst Lauren Hopkins, who did a blow-by-blow action of the vault event on the popular American gymnastics site.
“Second vault is the Kas double pull (routine named after Japanese 1972 Olympic gold medalist Shigeheru Kasumatsu), some noticeable knee form in the air and big step back but it’s strong overall,” noted Hopkins of the Filipino bet’s second vault which earned a score of 14.800 points.
Yulo emerged with an outstanding average of 15.116 points to seize the lead for good with four more competitors left to see action, occasionally flashing a confident smile as he waited patiently until the end of the competition.
His Olympic-winning score was superior to the 14.916 output he attained when he bagged the gold medal in the vault event at the world meet in Kitakyushu, Japan in 2021.
The last man to perform, Armenian Artur Davtyan gave the diminutive Filipino dynamo a slight cause for concern when he tallied 14.966 on his first vault, but could only duplicate it on his second one, for an overall average of 14.966 to snatch the silver.
Briton Harry Hepworth, the second athlete to perform who seemed to have clinched second behind Yulo until Davtyan entered the fray, was relegated to the bronze with 14.949 points while compatriot and world vault champion Jake Jarman settled for fourth place (14.933).
“All God, all God,” said Yulo while pointing his right index finger to heaven as he received his second gold medal for the second straight day, etching himself in the history books as the only Filipino standard-bearer to win multiple golds in just his second Olympics.
“Winning (on Saturday) took away all of my stress,” he told reporters after his magnificent performance. “The first vault was really good. I was so shocked that I landed it.
“Today, I was more chilled and relaxed. It helped me give it all because I had nothing to lose anymore. And that’s what happened. It was so crazy I don’t know what to feel right now,” he added.
“Answered prayers. We already broke the record in the Olympics, that’s it,” Philippine Olympic Committee president Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino said in a statement shortly after witnessing the gymnast’s golden feat.
