Artistic gymnast Carlos Edriel Yulo just fell short of a podium finish in the men's vault apparatus finals Monday evening at the Ariake Gymnastics Center after finishing fourth, a mere .017 behind the bronze medal winner.
Yulo ended up with an average score of 14.716, with the first vault a triple twist, but he stepped over the line for a score of 14.566. He was docked 0.1 of a point for his fault landing.
In the second one, Yulo went for his reliable Dragulescu vault and was awarded 14.866, the highest among all scores for the second vault. But it was not enough to medal.
"Nanghihinayang po kasi maganda yung preparation ko bago po mag-vault. Hindi lumabas yung training ko pero O.K. lang po, experience yun," (I am regretful, because my preparations were great before the vault. My training did not show off but that's O.K., it was still an experience), Yulo told Cignal TV's Gretchen Ho after the event.
Korea's Shin Jeahwan won the gold with a total score of 14.783 after completing the Kasamatsu 5/2, and a handspring front layout twists with a hop back. He even was penalized 0.1 points for a bad landing.
The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)'s Denis Abliazin won his third straight silver medal after a total score of 14.783, when he completed the handspring Randi and a Tsukahara double pike.
Armenia's Artur Davtyan ended up with the bronze medal when he did a Kasamatsu 2/1 twist, and a Dragulescu as well, for a total score of 14.733.
Yulo finished ahead of reigning world champion Nikita Nagornyy of the ROC, who finished fifth with 14.716 total points.
The 21-year-old gymnast made it to the gold medal event when he scored an average of 14.712 points when he executed the Kasamatsu double full, which was worth 14.766 points, and the Dragulescu, which was scored 14.658. He finished sixth out of eight participants that qualified.
Yulo was not able to make it to the final of his pet floor exercise, where he won gold in the 49th FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in 2019.
According to Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion, Yulo will stay in Tokyo to train for the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in October. Carrion added Yulo would have gone home if he had won a medal.
"It's his choice to stay and train. He wants to win," Carrion told ESPN5's Paolo Del Rosario.
Also in Yulo's sights is the next Olympic Games to be held in Paris, France in 2024.
"[What's next is] the Olympics. Paris. I will fight [to get there,]" exclaimed Yulo.