Gymnast Carlos Yulo wants to make an impact in the 2023 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships at the OCBC Arena in Singapore from 10 to 18 June.
Doing that entails a spot in the top eight, a feat that will propel him to an automatic stint in the 2023 FIG World Championships in Antwerp from 30 September to 8 October.
Last year’s edition of the Asian Championships saw Yulo get the silver medal in the men’s all-around with a score of 83.767 points as Shi Cong of China took the gold with 83.833 points.
The 23-year-old Manila resident said he has been tweaking his performance in the floor exercise for the 2024 Paris Olympics but had to adjust again after sustaining a left ankle injury last April.
“The goal is the all-around so that I can qualify for the World Championships. I am concentrating on the floor exercise, vault and parallel bars,” Yulo said.
“In the past World Cup legs, I’m almost at my target for the Olympics. I only need one more skill and it’s complete but because of my left foot, I had to adjust it for the SEA (Southeast Asian) Games.”
Despite being only limited to only two apparatuses, Yulo still took home two gold medals in the individual all-around and parallel bars and two silver medals in the rings and the team all-around along with John Ivan Cruz, Jan Timbang, Justine Ace de Leon, Juancho Miguel Besana and Jhon Romeo Santillan.
While an appearance in the World Championships is possible for Yulo, he wants his SEA Games teammates to join him in Belgium as well for the team all-around.
Yulo said with powerhouses China and Japan already secured of their places in the World Championships, this will be the perfect opportunity for the Phillippines to enter the men’s team all-around.
“There’s a chance we can qualify for the team all-around because Japan and China are already qualified. That leaves Kazakhstan, Korea, Vietnam, Philippines, Singapore and Chinese Taipei,” Yulo said.
“It looks slim but not impossible.”
