MANILA, Philippines — Carlos Yulo said that his preparations for his qualification and campaign in the upcoming 2024 Paris Olympics is progressing at a satisfactory pace after recently competing in three legs of the FIG Apparatus World Cup Series.
Most recently winning two golds in Baku, Azerbaijan, Yulo gave an update on his goal of going to the Olympics anew and hopefully raking in a medal this time around.
During the inauguration of a new grassroots gym for the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines donated by the Japanese Embassy on Friday, Yulo's development for the Summer Games is at pace.
"[Sa] Olympics preparation po, katulad lang din naman po 'yun ng mga other competitions po pero mas mahirap lang po 'yun kasi kailangan ko po mareach before 'yung Olympics, 'yung mga sinulat ko na target after matapos nung Tokyo Olympics," said Yulo, who fell painstakingly short of a medal in Tokyo when he finished fourth in the vault.
After missing out on the final in his pet event floor exercise, he had the chance to finish on the podium in the vault where he would eventually become world champion. But an unfortunate penalty would bump him down to fourth.
Now aiming to compete in more apparatus come Paris with a good showing in the World Championships set in Belgium later this year, the gymnast dynamo from Leveriza, Manila is looking to fill in the holes in his performances.
"'Yung preparation ko po, 'yung sa floor [exercise] po, medyo nabubuo na po siya. 'Yung sa pommel horse po, medyo na din. Sa rings, quality wise umookay na rin po," said Yulo, who recently competed in the rings final in the World Cup series leg in Azerbaijan.
"Sa vault, nagagawa ko naman na po 'yung basics. Sa high bar na lang po ako nahihirapan and 'yung [parallel bars] ko po, 'yung progression ko po, okay na din naman po. Sa high bar and pommel horse na lang po talaga yung pinakanahihirapan po ako sa ngayon po."
Yulo is currently in Manila until the end of March for some much needed R&R. His next competition will be the final leg of the World Cup series in Cairo, Egypt at the end of April.
He will then be competing in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games before shifting his focus to the World Championships.