20 hours ago
2
Upgrade to High-Speed Internet for only ₱1499/month!
Enjoy up to 100 Mbps fiber broadband, perfect for browsing, streaming, and gaming.
Visit Suniway.ph to learn
Joey Villar - The Philippine Star
October 26, 2025 | 12:00am
Philippines' Carlos Edriel Yulo competes on the vault during the men's qualifying session at the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta on Oct. 19, 2025.
AFP / Yasuyoshi Chiba
MANILA, Philippines — Carlos Yulo made sure he isn’t going home without a gold medal at the 53rd Artistic Gymnastics World Championships.
In another magnificent display of power, precision and grace, the Paris Olympics double gold medalist took all comers, including Armenian archrival Artur Davtyan, to capture the vault gold before a bewitched crowd at the Indonesia Arena in Jakarta yesterday.
Jumping third, the pocket-sized dynamo from Leveriza in Manila asserted his might early and averaged 14.866 on a competition best 15.200 first attempt and a 14.533 on the other.
Yulo, nursing a minor wrist injury heading to the competition, will thus go home with two medals, including the bronze in the floor exercise the day before.
Davtyan, the eighth to take the turn, saved his best for last and came up with a 14.833 on a 14.800 and 14.866.
But it wasn’t enough to deprive the 25-year-old Filipino his second gold in the apparatus in the Worlds and third overall since his first came in floor exercise in Stuttgart, Germany six years ago.
Davtyan settled for the silver while Ukrainian Nazar Chepurnyi took the bronze with a 14.466.
It was the second time that Yulo bested Davtyan in the big stage after the former Olympic golden reign in the French capital where the latter settled for the silver.
The 33-year-old Armenian had actually bested Yulo once in the 2022 Liverpool edition where the former copped the mint and the latter the silver.
It was all Yulo from there.
Determined to not let this one gold slip away, Yulo unleashed a piked Dragulescu – a majestic aerial pike position with the tiniest of knee bends and half twists – that blew away everyone with that near flawless 15.200.
He sealed the deal with a handspring front 2.5 twist that was dented a bit by a small hop on his landing, one that didn’t matter in the end.
Philippine Sports Commission chairman Pato Gregorio hailed Yulo for his latest feat.
“Caloy Yulo is truly our national treasure, and continues to excite our countrymen on the world stage. With the nation’s full support, I’m sure our two-time Olympic champion will make us proud over and over. Hats off to our gymnastics association as well. Caloy lived up to expectations,” said Gregorio.
