NAGOYA, Japan — Two-time Olympic champion Carlos Yulo broke the Philippines’ four-day medal drought at the 20th Asian Games by securing a victory in the men’s floor exercise at the Nagoya General Gymnasium.
Building on his top performance in the qualification round, Yulo turned in a sharp routine with a difficulty score of 5.700 and an execution mark of 8.966 to finish with a winning tally of 14.666.
He sealed his victory with a clean dismount in front of a supportive Filipino crowd that included Philippine Olympic Committee President Abraham “Bambol” Tolentino.
Kazakhstan’s Milad Karimi claimed the silver medal with a score of 14.600, while Japan’s Shoma Tsukiyama took the bronze with 14.566. Yulo’s younger brother, Karl, placed seventh with a score of 12.233 in his Asian Games debut.
The gold marked Yulo’s first Asian Games podium finish after he missed out on medal contention in Jakarta eight years prior and skipped the Hangzhou Games to focus on his Paris Olympic bid. He remains in contention for additional medals in the upcoming vault and parallel bars finals.
Despite Yulo’s win, the Philippines remained outside the top 20 in the overall standings, where China maintained its lead with 66 gold medals.
Beyond Yulo’s gold, the Philippine delegation’s medal tally stood at one silver from mixed martial artist Jean Claude Saclag and four bronzes across soft tennis, kata, karate, and MMA.
Elsewhere in the competition, several Filipino athletes made notable advances while others ended their campaigns:
- Swimming: Kayla Sanchez placed fourth in the women’s 50-meter freestyle with a time of 24.75 seconds, breaking her previous national record of 25.15 seconds set at the Bangkok Southeast Asian Games, but narrowly missing out on the bronze medal to Singapore’s Amanda Lim.
- Rowing: Olympian Joanie Delgaco placed sixth in the women’s single sculls final at the Nagaragawa Regatta Course, clocking 8:01.63.
- Skateboarding: Twelve-year-old Mazel Paris Alegado scored 73.93 to finish fourth in the qualification round and qualify for the women’s park final, alongside Jericho Francisco, who earned 80.64 points to reach the men’s park final.
- Squash: Jemyca Aribado and David Pelino of Kayod Pilipinas advanced to the mixed doubles quarterfinals after defeating South Korea, setting up a match against India where a win guarantees a medal.
- Esports & Fencing: Fencers Noelito Jose Jr., Queen Denise Dalmacio, and Jian Miguel Bautista were eliminated in the Round of 16. In esports, Sibol’s Naraka: Bladepoint squad missed the semifinals after going 1-2 in group play. Sibol’s Pokémon UNITE team is set to open its campaign next, while the Mobile Legends: Bang Bang squad, featuring players from Team Liquid, arrived in Tokyo for training ahead of their tournament start led by Karl Nepomuceno.
- Beach Volleyball: The men’s duo of Alnakran Abdilla and LJ Francisco were eliminated from quarterfinal contention following a 0-2 group stage loss to Oman.