REIGNING world vault champion Carlos Edriel Yulo has added a difficult routine in a bid to recapture the floor exercise gold medal in the 41st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Liverpool, England in October next year.
Yulo, who won a gold in the vault and silver in the parallel bars in the 2021 edition two months ago in Kitakyushu, Japan, has been practicing the “Nagornyy,” a hard stunt involving a triple back pike named after 2019 Russian world all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy, the Olympicchannel.com reported over the weekend.
“Yulo has been working hard, recently showing off a triple back pike — named for 2019 world all-around champion Nikita Nagornyy — on his Instagram account,” it reported.
The diminutive but dynamic gymnast has been eyeing redemption after failing to qualify for the medal round of his forte in the Tokyo Olympic Games in July last year and the last edition of the worlds in October held in familiar surroundings since he has been training in the Japanese capital since 2016.
Yulo scored a golden breakthrough in 2019 in the 39th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Stuttgart, Germany, becoming the first Filipino gymnast to bag a championship in the prestigious competition.
The report said his Japanese coach, Munehiro Kugimiya, has “also shared some of Yulo’s training including a stunning front handspring double pike vault and an emphasis on perfecting Yulo’s entry on to the vaulting table while performing Kasamatsu-style vaults.
“With big skills and clean form clearly an emphasis, Yulo is likely to continue to contend for medals at major events including at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games which he has said (is) one of his next goals,” it added.
After more than two years of staying in Japan, Yulo is expected to be back in the country for the Christmas holidays in time for the inauguration of the new Gymnastics Association of the Philippines national training center in Intramuros, Manila.
