{"id":234454,"date":"2019-10-13T19:28:15","date_gmt":"2019-10-13T23:28:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=234454"},"modified":"2019-10-13T19:28:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-13T23:28:15","slug":"prrd-sports-leaders-elated-by-yulos-historic-gold-medal-finish","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2019\/10\/13\/prrd-sports-leaders-elated-by-yulos-historic-gold-medal-finish\/","title":{"rendered":"PRRD, sports leaders elated by Yulo\u2019s historic gold-medal finish"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Carlos Edriel Yulo twirls in the air on the way to clinching the men\u2019s floor exercise gold medal at the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Hans Schleyer Halle in Stuttgart, Germany Saturday (Oct. 12, 2019). (Photo courtesy of Janet Tenorio via PNA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0— Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William \u2018Butch\u2019 Ramirez said no less than President Rodrigo Duterte lauded Carlos Edriel Yulo for winning the country\u2019s first-ever gold medal in the 41st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships on Saturday (Oct. 12) at the Hans Schleye Halle in Stuttgart, Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled with the golden performance with Yulo at the world champs. President Rodrigo Duterte is happy,\u201d Ramirez said in a statement on Sunday.<\/p>\n

Ramirez, also chef de mission of the Team Philippines to the 30th Southeast Asian Games, said Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and former Special Assistant to the President and now Senator Christopher Lawrence \u2018Bong\u2019 Go have monitored Yulo\u2019s historic performance in Germany.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Office of the President and the PSC family congratulate Caloy (Yulo\u2019s nickname) on this achievement.\u00a0Mabuhay ang atletang Pilipino!<\/em>\u00a0(Long live the Filipino athletes),\u201d Ramirez said.<\/p>\n

Philippine Olympic Committee (POC) president Abraham \u2018Bambol\u2019 Tolentino said Yulo\u2019s accomplishment should serve as an inspiration to Filipino athletes, particularly those who will compete in the SEA Games which the Philippines will host from Nov. 30 to Dec. 11 this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe would like to congratulate Caloy Yulo and the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) in producing a world champion. His hard work and dedication paid off,\u201d Tolentino said.<\/p>\n

GAP president Cynthia Carrion said Yulo\u2019s victory \u201cwill have a huge impact on Philippine gymnastics since we have proven that we can produce world champions in the sport\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that we will get more supporters for the sport now with his success,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Yulo and Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya, who were earlier scheduled to fly back to Tokyo to resume training, were prevailed upon by Carrion first to return to Manila because Ramirez was arranging for all three of them to pay a courtesy call on Duterte in Malacanang on Wednesday.<\/p>\n

Virtuoso performance<\/strong><\/p>\n

Performing next to last among the eighth finalists, Yulo came through with an awe-inspiring display of grace, artistry, and athleticism in securing the gold with an eye-popping score of 15.300 points.<\/p>\n

The shoulders of Israel’s Artem Dolgopyat, the erstwhile frontrunner with a seemingly untouchable tally of 15.200 points until the Yulo\u2019s turn came up, sagged when Yulo’s score was flashed on the huge TV screen proclaiming who had won the event by a hairline.<\/p>\n

Also playing a major factor in the victory was the degree of difficulty of Yulo’s routine — the highest among the entries at 6.500 to Dolgopyat’s 6.400 — that proved to be the winning edge<\/p>\n

In a country marking its annual popular Oktoberfest, there was much to celebrate inside the 15,000-seat arena as the gallery of 14,000 roared in approval when the Filipino gymnast pumped his fist as the score flashed — aware that the gold was in the bag.<\/p>\n

Likewise, eclipsed by Yulo’s triumph was China’s Xiao Ruoteng, the men\u2019s all-around silver medalist in the 2018 edition held in Doha, Qatar, who likewise seemed a cinch for silver with his score of 14.933, only to be relegated to the bronze in the face of the Filipino’s virtuoso performance.<\/p>\n

Kugimiya, whose stern training over six years had molded the once rough diamond into a world-beater, was seen in tears while watching his ward humble the giants in the sport.<\/p>\n

Among them was newly-crowned Russian all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy, who could only muster 14.166 in opening the all-around finals and wallowed in sixth place.<\/p>\n

The same for defending floor exercise champion and compatriot Artur Dalaloyan, who placed fourth (14.800), as the diminutive Pinoy gymnast stood head and shoulders above the rest of the impressive field.<\/p>\n

Yulo’s outstanding performance apparently unnerved Briton Dominick Cunningham, the 2018 European floor exercise champion and the last gymnast to perform, and he wound up dead last with a tally of 13.566 points.<\/p>\n

And for the first time in the 41 editions of the global gymnastics showcase, the Philippine national anthem was played in the tournament that drew the best gymnasts from 92 countries to this picturesque German city.<\/p>\n

“I am speechless because I did not expect to win because I thought the Israeli’s score was far too high,” admitted Yulo. But I wanted to show everyone what I could do so I just wanted to do my best. Talagang napakasaya ko po (I\u2019m really happy),” Yulo said.<\/p>\n

“I am happy for Caloy because all his hard work and sacrifice paid off. Actually, he has done better in practice so I was confident about his performance,\u201d Kugimiya said.<\/p>\n

During the post-event interview, the 19-year-old Yulo paid tribute to his Japanese coach by taking off the gold medal and draping it around the Japanese mentor’s neck.<\/p>\n

“Mas<\/em>\u00a0confident\u00a0po ako sa<\/em>\u00a0landing\u00a0ko ngayon kaysa duon sa<\/em>\u00a0all-around finals last Friday.\u00a0Malaking bagay din po iyon<\/em>\u00a0(I was more confident on my landing now compared to all-around finals last Friday. That was a big help),” said Yulo. “It was God who gave me this gold because I could not have done it on my own.”<\/p>\n

The golden finish also ensured the GAP protege will see action in two men’s artistic gymnastics events in the Tokyo Olympic Games.<\/p>\n

He earlier qualified for the men’s all-around event as early as Monday when he finished 18th in the qualifiers, and underscored that the feat was no fluke when he placed No. 10 in the finals last Friday.<\/p>\n

“I’m a bit scared now,” admitted Yulo, knowing that he would be a marked man in the event in the Tokyo Olympics.<\/p>\n

Another top competitor<\/strong><\/p>\n

Xiao told Xinhua News Agency that he noticed Yulo had made great progress in recent years and his moves were always hard, but he was still surprised to see Yulo crowned.<\/p>\n

“I thought Dolgopyat might be the best and I took him as the strongest competitor. Dolgopyat got a higher mark than me, which is predictable, and now I seem to have another top competitor,” Xiao said.<\/p>\n

Dolgopyat of Israel settled for silver and he hoped to upgrade it to gold in the future.<\/p>\n

Simone Biles of United States kept her domination on women’s vault and defended the title with an averaging 15.399 for her Cheng vault (6.0 Difficulty) and Amanar (5.8 Difficulty) in two attempts.<\/p>\n

Rio Olympic champion Max Whitlock of Britain won a thrilling final on pommel horse, adding his third career world title on the event following victories in 2015 and 2017.<\/p>\n

Elsewhere, Nina Derwael of Belgium defended her title on uneven bars with 15.233. Ibrahim Colak struck gold on the rings with 14.933, to become the first Turkish world title holder in gymnastics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0— Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Chairman William \u2018Butch\u2019 Ramirez said no less than President Rodrigo Duterte lauded Carlos Edriel Yulo …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":234466,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,44],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-234454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-sports","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234454","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=234454"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234454\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":234467,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/234454\/revisions\/234467"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/234466"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=234454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=234454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=234454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}