By CARLO ANOLIN
Redemption remains as the biggest motivating factor for elite Filipino gymnast Carlo Edriel Yulo as he welcomes 2022 with a busy schedule ahead.
Yulo, who is back home after years of training in Japan and competing overseas, is set to participate in his first tournament of the year in Japan in April as a springboard for the upcoming regional meets such as the 31st Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in May in Hanoi, Vietnam and the 2022 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China in September.
The 22-year-old Yulo has also set his sights at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October.
“Lahat naman po ng competitions mahalaga po ‘yan. Maliit o malaki, wala pong pinagkaiba ‘yon. Pero minamata ko po talaga ‘yong Asian Games kasi last time talaga parang Olympics po ‘yong nangyari,” said Yulo in an interview during the recent episode of PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) Hour. “Ayaw ko pong maulit ‘yong ganon. Dalawang beses na po, maraming beses na pong nangyari sa competitions. Gusto ko po ibigay ‘yong best ko pagdating ‘non. ‘Yung best preparation pagbibigyan ko po talaga ng oras.”
Before his breakthrough gold medal win in the floor exercise of the 2019 Stuttgart World Championships, Yulo had a fair share of setbacks from previous years.
In the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta, Indonesia, Yulo had the highest score in the qualification round and reached the men’s floor exercise and vault finals.
The Manila native gymnast, however, failed to secure a medal after finishing 7th in the floor exercise and fourth in the vault.
Two years later, Yulo, already a world champion, crashed out of the podium race in the 2021 edition of World Championships after placing fifth in his pet event floor exercise but ruled the vaults event and took home silver medal in the parallel bars.
Yulo also experienced heartbreak in his Olympic debut after ranking fourth in the vault and crashing out early in the floor exercise to his chagrin.
“Doon ko po talaga na-realize na ayaw kong matalo sa sarili ko. ‘Yong ganong pagkakamali, ako ‘yong may pagkakamali. Ayaw ko lang po siyang maulit kaya revenge po talaga ‘yong naging saying namin ng coach (Munehiro Kugimiya) ko,” said Yulo.
Meanwhile, Yulo will be gracing the official opening and blessing of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) National Gymnastics Center in Intramuros, Manila, on Saturday, March 5.
