Medal streak busted in world championships as Carlos Yulo falls short of floor exercise bronze

MANILA, Philippines – Carlos Yulo saw his medal streak in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships come to a grinding halt after finishing fourth in the men’s floor exercise final in Antwerp, Belgium, on Saturday, October 7.

Yulo fell short of the bronze in the apparatus he ruled four years ago with 14.5 points as he is set to return home without a precious hardware for the first time after winning medals in each of the last four editions of the tiff.

He bagged a floor exercise bronze in 2018, captured his first world title in the floor exercise in 2019, clinched a vault gold and parallel bars silver in 2021, and copped a vault silver and parallel bars bronze in 2022.

Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat finally broke through in the world championships as he struck gold following a near-flawless routine that netted him 14.866 points.

The reigning Olympic champion and the top qualifier in the apparatus, Dolgopyat got the proverbial monkey off his back after settling for a pair of floor exercise silvers in 2017 and 2019.

Japan’s Kazuki Minami garnered 14.666 points to replicate his silver finish in 2021, while Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi earned bronze with 14.6 points.

Posting the third-best mark in the qualification, Yulo remained at bronze position through the first five finalists’ performances before he got dislodged by Karimi, who copped his first medal in the world championships.

Canada’s Felix Dolci landed at fifth with 14.4 points followed by Great Britain’s Harry Hepworth at sixth with 14.333 points and Japan’s Daiki Hashimoto at seventh with 14.233 points.

The USA’s Frederick Richard, who finished second to Dolgopyat in the qualification, wound up at eighth and last place with 13.2 points as he fell on his knees to end his routine.

Yulo reached only the floor exercise final after a woeful all-around qualification a week prior that saw him land flat on his back twice, the first in the still rings and the second in his pet event vault.

Still, Yulo accomplished his mission of qualifying for the Paris Games, where he looks to join the ranks of Filipino Oympic medalists. – Rappler.com

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Delfin Dioquino

Delfin Dioquino dreamt of being a PBA player, but he did not have the skills to make it. So he pursued the next best thing to being an athlete – to write about them. He took up journalism at the University of Santo Tomas and joined Rappler as soon as he graduated in 2017.