Yulo completes redemption arc with coveted Olympic gold

MANILA, Philippines — It was a long and winding road to redemption for Carlos Yulo. 

Three years ago in Tokyo, Yulo looked primed to make some noise in his Olympic debut. 

He, however, fell flat and was unable to make it to the final in all but the vault. 

And in the vault, he barely missed the podium to cap off a disappointing debut in the Games. 

In the following years leading to Paris, Yulo brought home countless gold, silver and bronze medals from various competitions. 

But this did not come without a lot of hurdles. 

Last year, the 24-year-old parted ways with his longtime coach Munehiro Kugiyama as his preparations for the Olympics ramped up. Various personal problems also riddled his way to Paris. 

Fast forward to July 27, where the Filipino showcased confidence and fluidity like no other. In Paris, he made it to the all-around final, as well as the final of both floor exercise and vault. 

In floor exercise — his pet event — he scored 14.766, behind Jake Jarman of Great Britain who had 14.966. 

On Saturday evening (Manila time), the championship round of said event started.

Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Rayderley Zapata of Spain performed first and recorded 14.333. Following him was Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat, who had a tough-to-beat 14.966. 

Yulo came in third. 

Despite the obvious pressure, the Filipino took a deep breath as he started his routine. He looked oozing with confidence and loose as he twisted, turned, razzled and dazzled his way on the 12x12-meter mat. 

His routines all looked difficult, yet effortless. It was grace personified — simply poetry in motion. 

And as he stuck his landing in his final tumbling, Yulo let out a scream that was heard all around the world. 

After a few minutes of tense waiting, the judges scored 8.400 for execution and 6.600 for difficulty. This gave him a total of 15.000, good enough to overtake Dolgopyat. 

But it seemed too early to celebrate. He was just the third gymnast to take the floor and there were five still to come, including Jarman. 

Jarman wound up scoring 14.933, good for third place. It seemed that the Philippines’ first medal in Olympic gymnastics was well beyond reach. 

And with Britain’s Luke Whitehouse finishing his performance and being given a score of 14.466, history was made. 

Yulo became just the Philippines’ second gold medalist in the Olympics after weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz, who took home the breakthrough plum back in Tokyo. 

As the announcement was made, Yulo turned emotional and slumped to the floor, holding his head, covering his eyes as he wept away his tears. He has finally done it. 

A few moments later, the Lupang Hinirang was played for only the second time in the sporting event. Before the Philippines’ national anthem was played, Yulo seemingly shook his head, probably in disbelief, that his wildest dream came true. 

It was, indeed, a long and winding road to redemption for Carlos Edriel Yulo. The young athlete has made history, and he can continue to do so as he competes in the men’s vault final on Sunday night (Manila time).