By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Carlos Yulo showed why he is the reigning Olympic champion after capturing his fourth straight gold medal in floor exercise in the 12th Senior Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jecheon, South Korea on Saturday, June 7.
Displaying another jaw-dropping complicated routine, the 25-year-old Yulo wowed the crowd and the judges with his flawless performance to score 14.600 points. He registered a 5.7 degree of difficulty in his routine and managed to gain 8.8 from his execution.
Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi, one of Yulo’s fiercest rivals in the event, settled for the silver medal for the second straight time with a score of 14.400.
Hometown bet Moon Geonyoung, who came in as a second reserved gymnast, stunned the crowd with a bronze-medal performance after posting 14.033 despite getting a 0.300 penalty deduction for slipping outside the mat.
Prior to his golden feat, Yulo clinched the bronze medal in the individual all-around.
He attempted for another podium finish a few hours later, but ended up at seventh among eight finalists in rings.
Yulo scored 13.233 in the apparatus won by reigning Asian Games champion Lan Xingyu of China, who registered an impressive 14.933 score.
Lan’s teammate Yang Haonan claimed the silver with 14.233 while Iran’s Siahi Kolankouh Siavash snared the bronze with 14.133.
Yulo is scheduled to also see action in the vault, parallel bars and horizontal bar finals on Sunday, June 8.
Yulo’s teammate, John Ivan Cruz is also competing in vault.
