CARLOS Yulo suffered a stunning setback late Sunday night (Sunday afternoon in England) in his forte, the men’s floor exercise, landing seventh overall in the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the M&S Bank Arena in Liverpool, England.
The favorite after topping the qualifiers last Monday with a score of 15.266 points, Yulo slipped on his first pass and landed on his posterior after doing a two-and-half-front double pike, bowing out of contention after garnering a measly 13.300 points.
It was the worst score in the floor exercise for the diminutive Filipino dynamo in his fourth straight appearance in the world meet, way below his best of 15.300 points when he clinched a historic gold medal in the 49th edition in Stuttgart, Germany three years ago.
The downfall of Yulo, the fifth performer among eight finalists, opened up a golden opportunity for the rest of his rivals, and it was Briton Giarnni Regini-Moran who made the most of it, ruling the event with a score 14.500 points in front of ecstatic hometown fans.
Newly-minted men’s all-around gold medalist Daiki Hashimoto of Japan took the silver (14.500) while compatriot Ryosuke Doi, who was second to Yulo in the qualifiers but slipped out of the mat, settled for the bronze (14.266).
The pocket-sized Pinoy gymnast was dismayed over his miserable showing, noting he also had a top score of 15.166 points on the mat in the men’s all-around finals the previous day when he also missed a podium finish, finishing seventh overall with a tally of 82.098 points.
“I am really disappointed, obviously. Yesterday was okay — I hit it. But today I had a feeling that I lost myself,” he said,” but maybe I will gain experience from here despite my performance. I want to come back stronger next year.
