Carlos Yulo missed a podium finish in the men’s vault by a hairline after settling for fourth place in the artistic gymnastics of the Tokyo Olympics on Monday, August 2.
Yulo, one of the youngest athletes in the Philippine contingent, posted 14.716 after two vaults behind gold-medal winner Shin Jeahwan of Korea.
Shin, a two-time world champion, scored a similar 14.783 with Russian Olympic Committee’s Denis Abliazin but the Korean took home the gold after posting a higher score on his second vault.
Armenia’s Artur Davtyan won the bronze with 14.733.
Seeking to redeem himself after missing the floor exercise finals where he is the 2019 world champion, Yulo scored 14.716 in his first vault with a 5.600 degree of difficulty and 9.066 in execution. His was penalized 0.100 after a foot stuck out of the landing mark.
He scored 14.866 on his second run, actually posting the highest score among all of his seven competitors. Without the penalty, Yulo could have gotten the bronze medal. Despite these, Yulo’s future remains bright with this surprise performance.