Retaining the vault and taking top honors in the parallel bars and floor exercise will be on Carlos Yulo’s agenda as the Filipino pride vies in the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England.
Yulo said during an online interview from Liverpool yesterday that he has recovered from injuries and that it bodes well with his bold bid during the 29 October to 6 November event.
Last year in Kitakyushu, Japan, Yulo could only compete in three apparatus owing to an injury and finished with a gold in the vault and a silver in the parallel bars.
“Now I’ll be able to compete in all six apparatuses,” Yulo said.
“My preparation for the competition was good but I admit this year will be challenging because aiming for the score of 85 in the individual all-around is hard.”
Yulo is already in Liverpool for last-minute preparations for the tournament after a five-day training camp in France.
Yulo, 22, is also taking part in the rings, pommel horse and horizontal bar and is one of the men to watch out for in Liverpool.
Yulo earned the ticket to Liverpool after winning three gold medals and a silver in the Asian championships hosted by Qatar last June.
Before that, Yulo bagged five gold and two silver medals in the Hanoi Southeast Asian Games.
Still, Yulo swears the opposition in Liverpool is going to topnotch as he bids to correct the mistakes he committed in Vietnam and Qatar.
Besides, the men’s cast is formidable.
Tokyo Olympics champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel Rayderley Zapata of Spain and Xiao Ruoteng, silver and bronze medalists in Tokyo, are also entered in Liverpool.
Yulo’s Japanese coach, Munehiro Kugimiya, remains upbeat that they can get the job done.
“He has no more problem with his fingers,” Kugimiya said.
“He’s trying his best. If he lands well in the vault, he can get the medal as well as in the floor if he can land his routine.”
“Getting into the top six or eight in the all-around, he needs to have 85 points.”
Yulo is aware of the challenge ahead.
“This move requires a tough heart. I have to be at 120 percent mentally to execute this. Otherwise, I won’t be able to do it.”
