Olympian Carlos Yulo said it is not impossible for him to win more than one gold medal in major international events with discipline.
Through the years, the 21-year-old Yulo said his learnings from the Japanese culture of discipline and humanity have contributed to his quest for excellence in the sport of gymnastics.
“Disiplina, kung paano ka magiging makatao. Kahit hindi ka magaling sa sport mo. Basta mauuna lagi ang pagiging makatao mo,” said Yulo a week after he finished with a gold and a silver medal at the end of his routines at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2021 in Kitakyushu, Japan recently.
A left elbow injury sustained during practice three months ago did not prevent Yulo from coming up with great performances in the world tourney.
Good rehabilitation therapy, focus on his training and inspiration drawn from his younger sister’s birthday kept Yulo right on track.
Yulo said his interactions with Japanese coach Munehiro Kugiyama have molded his outlook during his journey to do well.
Now that the Tokyo Olympics is behind him, he kept reminding himself that he can’t repeat the same mistakes that he committed while competing in the world championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.
“Hindi ko pa rin makalimutan ang nangyari sa akin sa Olympics. Palagi ko pa rin nire-remind sarili ko na paano kung nandiyan ulit ang Olympics,” said Yulo, whose high average score of 14.916 proved difficult to overtake as he remained unchallenged all afternoon in the vault finals.
His huge effort earned him his second World Championship title since grabbing the floor exercise gold in Stuttgart, Germany back in 2019.
The judges liked what they saw on his first of two attempts, which consisted of a well-executed running approach to the vault, followed by two stiff front flips and a flawless half flip on his way down.
Yulo’s routine was one of the many popular routines in men’s gymnastics, known as the “Dragulescu”, a handspring double front somersault vault with a half twist.
Later, Yulo took the lead in the parallel bars and held it until it was Chinese rival Hu Xuwei’s turn to do his thing.
The 24-year-old Hu then came up with a more difficult routine to win the gold medal.
Hu, who was the sixth performer on the floor, averaged 15.46 points to claim first place, snatching the lead from Yulo, who settled for the silver with 15.3.
With his feat, Yulo earned a total incentive worth P750,000 from the Philippine Sports Commission.
His many years in Japan has taught Yulo the values that are the ingredients for a winning performance at the world stage.
“Simple siya at hindi kumplikado (learnings). May respeto, may disiplina,” added Yulo.
Since it was his sister Issa’s birthday when he won his gold medal, Yulo offered his medals to her as a gift.
Issa quickly learned of his brother’s achievement back in their home in Leveriza, Manila through an online message he sent.
Yulo said he is still far from where he needs to be. But with more preparation, he may be able to win more medals in a single tournament.
“Sobrang layo pa na kaya kong sabihing imposible na magkamedal ako sa tatlo. Mahirap ang mga tournaments ko dahil maraming malalakas sa buong mundo,” said Yulo in describing his chances of getting medals in the parallel bars, the vaults and the floor excercises.
While he feels that he needs to spend more years in training, Yulo said he is confident in his chances in all-around events.
As for the three events that he excelled in Kitakyushu, he needs to refine his techniques even more.