PH gymnast Yulo fails to medal, but makes history in World Championships

HISTORIC. Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo is the first Filipino to qualify in an all-around final of a world championship. File photo by Adrian Portugal/Rappler

MANILA, Philippines – Carlos Yulo may not have struck a medal in the men's individual all-around final of the 2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships but he already made history by merely competing.

Although finishing at 23rd out of the 24 competitors, the 18-year-old became the first Filipino to qualify for an all-around final of a world championship at the Aspire Dome in Doha, Qatar on Wednesday, October 31.

Yulo, the youngest among all contenders, finished with an aggregate score of 77.465 points as Russia's Artur Dalaloyan dethroned China's Xiao Ruoteng for the gold medal on a tiebreaker.

Both amassed 87.598 points but Ruoteng, the 2017 champion, settled for silver while Dalaloyan's compatriot, Nikita Nagornyy, clinched bronze with 86.333 points.

The Filipino teen, who currently trains in Japan, opened his campaign at 20th place after the first rotation with 12.6 points in the pommel horse before slipping to 24th with 12.0 points in his rings routine.

He scored 14.666 points in the floor, 14.166 in the parallel bars, 13.1 in the vault and a lowly 10.933 in the horizontal bars to avoid landing at last place.

Yulo will see action in the floor final on Friday, November 2. – Rappler.com