It sucks that Carlos "Caloy" Yulo lost in the men's all-around in gymnastics, finishing 12th place in a 24-man field.
That said, I enjoyed watching these gymnasts!
Oka Shinnosuke had to endure HELL for that gold medal!
First of all, there is nothing girly about a tattooed, balbas-sarado, macho dude in spandex. When I was a kid I used to think that I would rather die than enter that ballet center in the SM North EDSA food center when I was young. Back then, I wrongfully acquainted ballet with gymnastics because I saw girls in pink leotards coming there.
However, as I grew older and wiser (?) I learned how brutal ballet and gymnastics are.
Because of Carlos Yulo, Filipinos have followed the sport. While Yulo has yet to find success in the Olympics, he has been a standout representative of our nation. If you check out his Wikipedia page, the dude has a monster collection of gold, silver, and bronze medals from the World Championships, Asian Championships, and other regional awards.
But again, we want Yulo to win in the Olympics.
The all-around event is a tragedy for gymnasts because you have to do all six events in at least two hours. Some of these gymnasts have two or three go-to events, but here, you need to have at least a 14 in all of the events, fight fatigue, think about the pride and flag and the people who believe and doubt your capabilities, and protect yourself from harm.
I have mad respect for Yulo and all of the dudes who participate in this sport.
Anyway, here is Carlos Yulo's report card.
EVENT | DIFFICULTY | EXECUTION | SCORE |
POMMEL HORSE | 5.000 | 6.900 | 11.900 |
RINGS | 5.600 | 8.333 | 13.933 |
VAULT | 6.000 | 9.066 (-0.3) | 14.766 |
PARALLEL BARS | 6.000 | 8.500 | 14.500 |
HORIZONTAL BAR | 5.400 | 8.200 | 13.600 |
FLOOR EXERCISE | 6.600 | 7.733 | 14.333 |
And this is how he fared with the gymnast who logged the best numbers in the all-around tilt.
EVENT | YULO'S SCORE | NUMBER ONE |
FLOOR EXERCISE | 14.333 | JAKE JARMAN | GBR | 14.900 |
POMMEL HORSE | 11.900 | OLEG VERNIAIEV | UKR | 14.833 |
RINGS | 13.933 | ZHANG BOHENG | CHN | 14.600 |
VAULT | 14.766 | JAKE JARMAN | GBR | 15.166 |
PARALLEL BARS | 14.500 | ILLIA KOVTUN | UKR | 15.400 |
HORIZONTAL BAR | 13.600 | ZHANG BOHENG | CHN | 14.633 |
SOURCE: https://olympics.com/en/paris-2024/results/artistic-gymnastics/men-s-all-around/fnl-000001--
At least on August 3 and 4, he will battle the odds in the floor exercise and vault events. No pommel horse, steel rings, and horizontal bar events - which aren't his strong points.
NO MORE POMMEL HORSE!!!
That said, he's going to face a tough task in these events, most especially in floor exercise, with individual and team silver medalist Zhang Boheng, fourth placer Illia Kovtun of Ukraine, and Great Britain's Jake Jarman who placed seventh in the all-around event as major obstacles.
If you look at the vault part though, you have Jake Jarman as the top guy in the all-around competition. And then, there's Xiao Routeng. Xiao never made the finals. The next guy is Japan's Daiki Hashimoto, and he's also not part of the vault competition.
Daiki is tied with Carlos Yulo with 14.766.
Uhurm.
When Yulo qualified for the all-around final, he had a 14.766 in the floor exercise event and 14.800 in the vault event. If you combine his skills with his reputation, there is a chance that he can score a podium finish in these events.
FLOOR EXERCISE
GYMNAST | QUALIFIER | FINAL |
JAKE JARMAN | GBR | 14.966 | 14.900 |
CARLOS YULO | PHI | 14.766 | 14.333 |
RAY ZAPATA | ESP | 14.600 | DNP |
ILLIA KOVTUN | UKR | 14.533 | 14.700 |
LUKE WHITEHOUSE | GBR | 14.533 | DNP |
ZHANG BOHENG | CHN | 14.466 | 13.233 |
ARTEM DOLGOPYAT | ISR | 14.466 | DNP |
MILAD KARIMI | KAZ | 14.433 | 13.433 |
VAULT
GYMNAST | QUALIFIER | FINAL |
NAZAR CHEPURNYI | UKR | 14.833 | DNP |
HARRY HEPWORTH | GBR | 14.766 | DNP |
AUREL BENOVIC | CRO | 14.733 | DNP |
IGOR RADIVILOV | UKR | 14.700 | DNP |
JAKE JARMAN | GBR | 14.699 | 15.166 |
CARLOS YULO | PHI | 14.683 | 14.766 |
ARTUR DAVTYAN | ARM | 14.666 | DNP |
MAHDI OLFATI | IRI | 14.583 | DNP |
I like how Yulo's facial expression changes when he's about to make his move. If you see how his mood changes during the vault part, you'll get that he's on a mission.
Anyway, the major person who stands in Yulo's way is Jake Jarman.
Oh.
And Jarman has a British dad and a Cebuana mom.
Hmmm...
Maybe he can win the gold medal when he starts to represent the Philippines in the Olympics.
Perhaps in 2028?
Hopefully, we'll have a more positive result in his last two events. Yes, Jarman has Filipino roots, but we're still rooting for Yulo.
GO FOR GOLD, CARLOS YULO!!!