FILIPINO gymnast Carlos H. Yulo resumes his Tokyo Olympic Games campaign on Monday and looks to succeed in his lone shot at winning a gold medal.
Manila native Mr. Yulo, 21, will be competing in the vault finals of the gymnastics event set at 5:51 p.m. (Manila time) at the Ariake Gymnastics Center in Tokyo.
The Philippine bet only qualified for the finals of the men’s vault out of a possible seven events during the qualification phase on July 24.
Mr. Yulo made the cut in vault by scoring 14.712 points, good for sixth and inside the top 8 that was needed to qualify.
He, however, fell short in the all-around (47th), his pet event floor exercise (44th), pommel horse (69th), rings (24th), parallel bars (55th) and horizontal bar (63rd).
Mr. Yulo lamented not being able to advance to more gymnastics events, but vowed to perform better in the vault finals even as he said it is going to be tough.
“I was surprised that I was able to qualify [in vault],” said Mr. Yulo in Filipino after the qualification round, taking note of how the vault event is not among his stronger suits.
“It’s going to be tough as there are many good competitors in the event. But I can still improve on my performance. So let’s see,” he added.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines President Cynthia Carrion-Norton shared to Filipino sports journalists in Japan that Mr. Yulo is moving on and will be coming in the vault finals prepared and determined.
Meanwhile, also on Monday, Filipino-American track athlete Kristina C. Knott will begin her Olympic campaign in the 200m run in qualifying heats beginning at 10:18 a.m. at the Olympic Stadium.
Ms. Knott, 25, born to a Filipino mother who hails from Cavite, qualified for the Olympics by gaining a universality place from World Athletics.
In the lead-up to her campaign, she worked out at the Transcosmos Track and Field stadium in Isahaya City in southern Nagasaki.
Her preparation was overseen by coach Rohsaan Griffin and strength and conditioning coach Carlo Buzzichelli.
Ms. Knott is the second athletics athlete to represent the Philippines in the Tokyo Games after pole-vaulter Ernest John Obiena, who is through to the finals of his event. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo