Graphics by John Carl Acosta

Carlos Yulo captured his first Asian Games gold medal after ruling the men’s floor exercise final with 14.666 points at the Nagoya General Gymnasium in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, Thursday, September 24.

Yulo entered the final as the top qualifier after posting 14.600 points in the preliminary round.

He then delivered an 8.966 execution score and a 5.700 difficulty score to produce his winning total of 14.666.

Competing last among the eight finalists, Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi followed with 14.600 points to take silver.

Japan’s Shoma Tsukiyama completed the podium with 14.566 points, while Yulo’s younger brother Karl Eldrew finished seventh with 12.233.

Yulo’s winning routine combined difficult tumbling passes with controlled landings as he secured the highest score of the final.

The victory also completed Yulo’s collection of major international titles, having already won gold at the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Championships, and Southeast Asian Games.

Earlier in the Games, Yulo helped the Philippine men’s team finish sixth in the team final before shifting his focus to the individual apparatus events.

The floor exercise gold marked Yulo’s first Asian Games medal after he missed the podium in his previous Asiad appearances.

More importantly, his victory delivered the Philippines’ first gold medal of the 2026 Asian Games.

Yulo will return to competition in the vault and parallel bars finals as he looks to add more medals to his Aichi-Nagoya campaign.

Articley by Mark Abrantes