Carlos Yulo is running out of ways to make Philippine sports history look routine.
The country’s only double Olympic gold medalist added another first on Thursday, winning the Philippines’ maiden Asian Games gold in artistic gymnastics with a victory in the men’s floor exercise in Japan.
Yulo scored 14.666 points to edge Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi, who took silver with 14.600, while Japan’s Shoma Tsukiyama settled for bronze at 14.566. The margins were razor thin, but so was the room for error in an event where a landing can separate gold from the rest of the podium.
It was familiar territory for Yulo. Floor exercise was one of the two events in which he struck gold at the 2024 Paris Olympics, the other being vault. He topped Wednesday’s qualification round with 14.600 and followed it with the score that mattered most.
For the 26-year-old Filipino, the Asian Games title adds another line to a résumé that already has very little empty space.
It was also a family affair, albeit with very different numbers on the scoreboard.
Yulo’s younger brother, Karl Eldrew, made his Asian Games debut and finished seventh with 12.223 points. The younger Yulo may not have joined his brother on the podium, but sharing an Asiad floor with an Olympic champion in the family is hardly a bad opening chapter.
Carlos Yulo’s victory also gave the Philippine medal haul its first gold, alongside one silver from mixed martial arts and four bronze medals.
The reward for the latest piece of history will include P2 million under Republic Act No. 10699, the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, for an Asian Games gold.
Yulo, however, is not finished. He returns Friday for the vault and parallel bars finals, with two more chances to make the scoreboard, and perhaps history, even busier.
