In first event since double Olympic gold coup, Carlos Yulo leads PH team in Asian meet

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Nearly 10 months since making Olympic history with a stunning double-gold romp, gymnastics icon Carlos Yulo returns to competition in the 2025 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships

MANILA, Philippines – After a long, well-deserved break, Filipino superstar gymnast Carlos Yulo returns to action in the 2025 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jecheon, South Korea, starting Thursday, June 5, up until Sunday, June 8.

This marks the 25-year-old sensation’s first formal competition nearly 10 months after he nailed an astounding double-gold coup in the 2024 Paris Olympics in August 2024 — the first Olympic gymnastics championships in Philippine history and only the country’s second and third-ever gold medals.

Joining Yulo are his teammates in the Philippine men’s gymnastics team — Jhon Romeo Santillan, Justin Ace de Leon, Juancho Miguel Besana, and John Ivan Cruz.

Already in Korea since Monday, June 2, the Yulo-led Philippine team is set to compete in the team and all-around finals and individual apparatus qualifications starting Thursday morning, from 9 am to 8 pm (Manila time), immediately followed by the awarding ceremony.

The seniors team then takes a break on Friday, June 6, as Carlos’ younger brother Eldrew and his teammate Evan Thomas Aliwalas step up in the juniors’ division all-around finals and apparatus qualification rounds.

Gold or bust for Carlos Yulo

Should Carlos and his teammates qualify in the apparatus finals — with Yulo widely expected to do so — they will first compete in the pommel horse, still rings, and Yulo’s pet event floor exercise finals on Saturday, June 7, from 3 pm to 5:25 pm (Manila time).

Eldrew and Aliwalas will then compete in the morning of Sunday, June 8, from 9 am onwards (Manila time), for all six apparatus finals should they qualify, before Carlos and his teammates return after lunch for the parallel bar, high bar, and vault — the last being Carlos’ other pet event and current Olympic throne.

For all athletes involved, the Asian championships serve as a qualifier for the 2025 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia this October 19 to 25.

Carlos will then wrap up his 2025 season in December, with an expected golden sweep of all events at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games in Thailand. – Rappler.com