By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Olympic champion Carlos Yulo returns to the stage when he banners the Philippine team in the 12th Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships slated June 5 to 8 in Jecheon, South Korea.
This would be Yulo’s first tournament since his two-gold medal haul at the 2024 Paris Olympics which earned him a place in Philippine history books as the only athlete to achieve such a feat in a single edition.
Joining Yulo are fellow Southeast Asian Games medalists John Ivan Cruz, Juancho Miguel Besana, Justine Ace De Leon and Jhon Romeo Santillan.
The 25-year-old Yulo is expected to defend the four gold medals he won in the individual all-around, floor exercise, vault and parallel bars in the previous edition of the meet held in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
He has actually been dominating the floor exercise, vault and parallel bars since debuting in the competition in 2022 in Doha, Qatar.
Interestingly, it will be a family affair for Carlos as younger brother Eldrew Yulo is also scheduled to compete in the 18th Junior Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Championships that will coincide with the seniors tournament.
Joining Eldrew is another junior gymnast in Thomas Aliwalas.
Eldrew also aims to make heads turn after bagging the gold medal in vault last year.
