Carlos Yulo wins historic gold medal in Paris Olympics

Carlos Yulo just made history in Paris. 

Yulo became the first-ever Filipino gymnast to ever reach the podium in any edition of the Summer Games, seizing the gold medal in the men's floor exercise at the 2024 Paris Olympics on Saturday at the Bercy Arena. 

The 24-year-old gymnastics ace tallied a stunning 15.000 points on his near-perfect routine, anchored on 6.600 for difficulty and 8.400 for execution, to emerge on top and bring home the country’s first medal at the ongoing Games.

To get the job done, the Philippine bet needed to beat the defending gold medalist Artem Dolgopyat of Israel and Great Britain's Jake Jarman, who was the top performer during the qualification round. 

After performing third and getting hold of the lead, Yulo — and the whole nation — had to hold his breath with five more performers still out to outwit him. 

Fortunately, even Dolgopyat and Jarman could not muster enough points to surpass Yulo's production. 

The 27-year-old Dolgopyat, who reigned supreme in the Tokyo Olympics men's floor finals, settled for silver this time after receiving 14.966 points while Jarman bagged the bronze with his 14.933-point showing. 

Yulo's golden run allowed him to redeem himself from his Tokyo campaign in 2021, where he didn't even qualify for the finals after only ending up with 13.566 in the qualification round.

Yulo also added another floor title to his collection, having won the same event in the World Championships, Asian Championships, and Southeast Asian Games. 

He also became the first medalist in the Philippines' campaign in Paris, and the second gold medalist from the country following weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz.

Yulo will have another shot at an Olympic medal on Sunday when he competes in the vault finals.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News