Yulo draws inspiration from teammates as he clinches two medals in apparatus finals

PHNOM PENH—Carlos Yulo didn't want to go home without a single gold medal in the apparatus finals of the 32nd SEA Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Tuesday.

Yulo on Monday settled for silver in still rings — an event he dominated in the previous edition of the game — after falling short by .200 against Vietnam's Van Khanh, who captured the gold.

Carlos Yulo on his two-medal feat in the apparatus finals and how his teammates inspired him #SEAGames2023 @gmasportsph pic.twitter.com/PnFgWAbEXX

— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 9, 2023

"Syempre nadismaya pero nakita ko kasi na mas mataas talaga 'yung score niya (Khanh) kesa sa akin. Wala naman pong problema sa akin 'yun, ginawa ko naman 'yung best ko," the 23-year-old Yulo said.

"Blessing pa rin 'yun para sa akin na magawa ko lang nang maayos at safe kong nagawa 'yun. Doon pa lang panalo na ako."

("Of course, I was dismayed but his score was really higher than mine. That's not a problem for me, I did my best... It's a blessing for me just to be able to do what I do well and safely. With just that, I've already won.")

But he knew he needed some extra inspiration in his last event, the parallel bars. And that came in the form of some huge performances from his teammates.

Two of his teammates delivered gold medals on Tuesday with Yulo's second cousin Ivan Cruz ruling the floor exercise and Juancho Miguel Besana winning in the vault.

Yulo said it challenged him to do better.

"Naging challenge po sa akin 'yung naka-gold si Ivan and naka-gold si Miguel and parang gusto ko rin maka-gold ngayon para tatlo 'yung mauwi namin."

("It challenged me when Ivan won a gold and Miguel won a gold and I really wanted to win one so that we could take three of them home.")

Yulo eventually bagged a gold medal in the apparatus finals as he collected an impressive score of 14.850 points to rule the five-man field.

WATCH: Carlos Yulo’s gold-winning performance in the men’s parallel bars finals @gmasportsph #SEAGames2023 pic.twitter.com/tPLwrT9Uyi

— Bea Micaller (@beamicallerrr) May 9, 2023

Aside from his one gold and one silver in the apparatus finals on Tuesday, Yulo also won gold in them men's individual all-around while also steering the squad to a silver medal in the men's team event last Monday.

Yulo is tipped to return to action at the 10th Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships from June 10 to 18 at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News