Philippines' Carlos Edriel Yulo competes in the artistic gymnastics men's vault final of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre in Tokyo on August 2, 2021. Loic Venance, AFP
Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo may have ended his Olympic debut without a medal but his countrymen’s faith in his ability to win a medal remained firm, as they look forward to Paris 2024.
Expectations were high on Yulo’s Tokyo Olympics bid, as he just came from successful stints at the world championships and the Southeast Asian Games in 2019.
But things did not go according to plan during the qualification phase, as Yulo crashed out of the floor exercise, where he was predicted to win a medal.
He, however, managed to book a slot in the vault final on Monday but eventually fell 0.017 short for a supposed bronze medal. Yulo landed fourth with 14.716 points.
Despite all the heartbreak, Filipino fans never questioned the capability of the gymnast, taking to social media to motivate the Olympian.
As expected, Yulo trended again on Twitter where his legion of supporters showered him with love and words of encouragement.
“Bawi next Olympics,” netizens said in unison.
“PROUD KAMI SA IYO, CALOY YULO! Comeback stronger at #Paris2024. I'm sure you'll get the GOLD OLYMPIC MEDAL there! This is just the beginning and malayo pa ang mararating mo kaya LABAN lang,” another supporter tweeted.
Filipinos applauded the fourth-place finish of Yulo, noting that he is only 21 years old but enough to threaten powerhouse countries in gymnastics.
Fans also took notice of the athlete’s second attempt score where he got 14.866, the second highest points in all attempts of the 8 competitors.
“So proud of you caloy... Imagine if vault 2 ang pinagbasihan gold kana, but you did your best Calooyy.. Mahal ka ng buong pilipinas,” a netizen said.
Meanwhile, Yulo assured his supporters that he will return stronger as he thanked everyone who prayed for him during his Olympic journey.
For breaking news and latest developments on the Summer Olympics in Tokyo, visit https://news.abs-cbn.com/tokyo-olympics
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