CARLOS Yulo will indeed see action in the 2024 Paris Olympic Games but only in the floor exercise so far, based on the official notice released by the International Gymnastics Federation, the world governing body known by its French acronym FIG, yesterday.
The notice was released shortly after the close of the apparatus finals that capped the 52nd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships over the weekend at the Sportspaleis in Antwerp, Belgium.
Yulo was No. 1 in the apparatus after his third-place finish in the event during the men’s individual all-around qualifiers last week based on “Criteria 5” of the FIG Olympic qualifying regulations.
“Yes,” a Gymnastics Association of the Philippines source said when asked if this meant that Yulo had only qualified for the men’s floor exercise and not in any other event, including the prestigious individual all-around, in the Paris Summer Games.
This meant the diminutive dynamo has his work cut out for him after his dismal performance in the all-around qualifiers, falling on his back in both the vaults and rings to finish dead last at No. 59 with a score of 67.765 points, if he wants to vie in more events in the glamorous French capital in 2024.
The source said that one route would be competing in the FIG Apparatus World Cup scheduled from Feb. 28 to March 2, 2024 in Doha, Qatar where he must finish no less than second place in the parallel bars, rings, vault, pommel horse and horizontal bars to qualify for each apparatus.
The other way for him to qualify and compete in the men’s all-around event in Paris is to rule the men’s all-around of the Artistic Gymnastics Asian Senior Championships scheduled no later than April next year.
Yulo could have avoided these complications had he made it among the top eight qualifiers in the men’s all-around event in Belgium, something that was very possible considering his past performances in the elite meet.
But without Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya beside him for the first time in five straight outings in the world competition, he groped for form, like someone who had lost his anchor, stumbling and falling in the face of better-prepared opposition.
