The Olympic stumble that Carlos Yulo suffered during the 2020 Tokyo Games in Japan served as one of his biggest reminders to come back stronger in future tournaments.
Yulo may have failed to avenge his pet event floor exercise in the Olympics but he took home a gold medal in the vaults and a silver in the parallel bars in the 50th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships at the Kitakyushu General Gymnasium.
READ: Yulo dreams of a 'family affair' in future Olympics
Interestingly, the 21-year-old Filipino gymnast already had a fair share of ups and downs in the Land of the Rising Sun. He never forgot what happened during the Tokyo Olympics.
"'Di ko pa rin naman nakakalimutan 'yong Olympics. Like palagi ko po siyang nireremind sa sarili ko: 'Paano 'pag Olympics bukas?' Hindi po ako mapanatg na maging ganoon yung performance ko (I still cannot forget about what happened in the Olympics. I would always remind myself: 'What if the Olympics happens tomorrow?' I cannot just stand still knowing that I would perform the same way)," said Yulo in a previous interview aired by Radyo Pilipinas 2 during the weekly PSC (Philippine Sports Commission) Hour program.
"'Yong thought po kasi na 'yon hindi siya maalis sa isip ko. Grabe, natalo po ako sa sarili ko. Ayaw ko nang magkamali, ayaw ko na ng ganoong pagkakamali (I cannot forget those thoughts. I lost against myself. I don't want to repeat the same mistakes again, I don't want that)."
READ: Yulo shows resilience, mental toughness in his 'Revenge the Tokyo' campaign at the worlds
It would be recalled that Yulo only placed 44th in his favorite apparatus during the quadrennial meet.
READ: Carlos Yulo stumbles in floor exercise finals
Instead, Yulo used that setback for a major comeback come the World Championships.
Though the result leaned on a different expectation, still, Yulo surprised the sporting world with his much-awaited comeback in the vaults and parallel bars event.
"Ayaw kong hindi ibigay lahat tapos pupunta ako sa World Championships. Kaya minake sure ko po na preperado ako kahit anong mangyari. Magkamali man ako doon, ayos lang basta na-give ko 'yong best ko sa preparation ko (I don't want to go to the World Championships not giving my best. That's why I made sure that I'm prepared with what will happen. No matter what happened, it's all good as long as I did my best)," said the 2019 floor exercise world champion.
Moving forward with his latest feat, Yulo is expecting yet another busy 2022 as he prepares for the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam in May, the 19th Hangzhou Asian Games in China in September, and the 51st FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in England soon.