PARIS (Via PLDT Home)—Carlos Yulo’s road to redemption continues as he made a strong start to his Olympic campaign, making it to the finals in his signature events—the floor exercise and vault, including the men’s all-around during the men’s artistic gymnastics individual qualification at the 2024 Paris Olympics here on Saturday.
After failing to win a medal in the Tokyo Olympics three years ago, even as a favorite in the floor exercises where he was a world champion two years before, the Filipino gymnast showcased his mastery of the said event by scoring 14.766 points to temporarily place second behind Great Britain’s Jake Jarman.
Yulo also excelled in the vault, where he was also a former world champion, posting a total of 14.683 points.
He is also on track to claim a spot in top 24 and a finals spot in the individual men’s all-around after accumulating a total of 83.631 in the six apparatuses.
The 24-year-old Yulo finished fourth in the vault event of the Tokyo games and a dismal 44th in the floor exercise.
In Paris, Yulo encountered challenges in the other four apparatus – pommel horse, rings, parallel bars, and horizontal bar – preventing him from advancing to the finals in these disciplines.
The men’s all-around final is scheduled on July 31, while men’s floor exercise and men’s vault finals will be on August 3 and 4 respectively.
Meanwhile, Filipina rower Joanie Delgaco placed fourth in her women’s singles sculls heat also on Saturday, missing out on the chance to directly proceed to the quarterfinals of the rowing competitions.
Delgaco will progress to Sunday’s repechage races and fight for Top 2 positioning for another chance at the quarterfinal stage.
Basing off from the official times of her competitors, Delgaco has good odds to secure a Top 2 finish.
Closest to her performance is Vietnam’s Pham, also placing fourth in her heat with a time of 8:03.84 (7.5 seconds behind Joanie’s time).
Other competitors are from Cuba, Nicaragua, and Togo.
Delgaco’s Repechage 1 race will be at 3 p.m. Manila time (9 a.m. Paris time).
“We have confidence in Joanie’s ability to secure this positioning, but as always, implore her to stay focused, calm, and give her very best in any race no matter the competitor,” said rowing president Pato Gregorio.
