JAKARTA, Indonesia — Filipino gymnastics star Carlos Yulo once again proved his world-class form after capturing the gold medal in the men’s vault event at the 53rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, Saturday, October 25.
The 25-year-old reigning Olympic vault champion delivered a dominant performance, earning an average score of 14.866 to narrowly edge out Artur Davtyan of Armenia (14.833) and Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine (14.483).
In his first vault, a near-flawless piked Dragulescu was executed, earning 15.200 points and a 0.1 stick bonus.
Subsequently, a handspring front 2.5 twist was performed in his second attempt, which was awarded 14.533 points.
In an interview with Olympics.com, Yulo shared his excitement and motivation following his strong back-to-back performances.
“Yesterday, I was really feeling it. It’s a good feeling making it to the podium in third position. It gave me a lot of motivation to do well today. I’m really grateful it happened,” the vault world champion said.
The stick bonus, newly introduced under the FIG Code of Points for the 2025–2028 Olympic cycle, proved to be the decisive factor that secured Yulo’s gold medal.
In contrast, Davtyan, who had dethroned Yulo in the 2022 Liverpool edition, was once again limited to the silver medal despite earning stick bonuses for both vaults.
Meanwhile, Nazar Chepurnyi of Ukraine completed the podium with bronze.
The result mirrored their one-two finish at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where Yulo became the first Filipino athlete to win multiple Olympic gold medals.
In addition, a bronze medal in the men’s floor exercise was earned by Yulo a day earlier on October 24, demonstrating his remarkable consistency across apparatuses.
Furthermore, gold and silver in that event were captured by Jake Jarman and Luke Whitehouse of Great Britain, respectively.
Yulo’s explosive vaults, precise landings, and calm execution once again highlighted his mastery, resilience, and mental strength on the world stage, especially as he continues to compete while managing a lingering wrist injury.
Article by Ellie Cabalhin