Caloy Yulo begins 2020 Tokyo Olympics quest

MANILA, Philippines — A long campaign is in store for 18-year-old Caloy Yulo as he bids to represent the Philippines in artistic gymnastics at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and the road starts in Doha, Qatar, where the World Championships will be held at the Aspire Academy Dome Auditorium on Oct. 25-Nov. 3.

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion said yesterday she’s confident Yulo will overcome the odds to claim a ticket to Tokyo if not in Doha then in the succeeding qualifying competitions. Only 50 slots are allotted in the men’s individual quota for the all-around and six apparatus events. Tickets will be earned from Doha, the Apparatus World Cup series from November 2018 to March 2020, the World Championships in Stuttgart on Oct. 4-15, 2019, the 2020 All-Around World Cup series in March-April, 2020 and the 2020 Continental Championships for each region. 

It won’t be easy sailing for Yulo but Carrion said he’s the country’s best bet to qualify for the Olympics. No Filipino gymnast has competed in the Summer Games since Ernesto Beren and Norman Henson at the 1968 Mexico Olympics and the only other Olympics where the Philippines was represented in the sport came in 1964 with Demetrio Pastrana and Fortunato Payao. If Yulo qualifies, he will end a 52-year drought for the Philippines in Olympic gymnastics.

Carrion said Yulo will be accompanied in Doha by coach Munehiro Kugimiya and therapist Jumpei Konne. “I’m grateful to the PSC, particularly chairman Butch Ramirez, for supporting Caloy and his coach to go to Doha and to POC president Ricky Vargas for providing the funds for Jumpei to join,” she said. “Without the support of the PSC and POC, it will be almost impossible for Caloy or any athlete to compete for a chance to make it to the Olympics.”

Carrion said right after the Asian Games ended in Jakarta last month, Yulo was back in Tokyo training with Kugimiya and Konne. “It’s been non-stop,” she said. “Caloy has been sacrificing all these years to bring honor to our country. I’ve seen recent videos of Caloy and the progress is significant. The pommel horse isn’t his strong event but he’s even performing well with it.”

At the Asian Games, Yulo qualified for the final, as expected, in his favorite vault and floor events. He was first in floor in the eliminations then dropped to seventh in the final. In vault, Yulo was fourth in the qualifying round and also finished fourth in the final, one rung away from a medal. The teener’s lack of maturity was evident when he tweaked his floor routine for the final and stumbled in the process. He had never competed in the Asian Games or even the Southeast Asian Games before so the experience was an awakening. Yulo couldn’t participate in the 2017 SEA Games because he was under-age but if he did, Carrion said he would’ve captured seven gold medals. At the International World Juniors in Yokohama last year, Yulo took the gold in vault and silver in floor.

The Doha competition will gather over 500 gymnasts from 76 countries. At the recent Asian Games, South Korea’s Kim Han-sol, 22, bagged the gold in floor and silver in vault while Hong Kong’s Shek Wai Hung, 27, pocketed the gold in vault.   They will both compete in Doha and Yulo has a chance to show up the champions with an improved performance. Another Asian Games gold medalist Zou Jingyuan of China, a pommel horse specialist, will be in Doha. A gymnast to watch in Doha is Asian Games women’s vault gold medalist Yeo Seo-jeong, 16, whose father Yeo Hong-chul was the vault silver medalist at the 1996 Olympics.