Yulo seeking gold in all-around event

SEEKING a gold medal, Carlos Yulo begins the first of his three final events at the Paris Olympics men’s artistic gymnastics at the Bercy Arena on Wednesday.

The 24-year-old Filipino ace battles 23 other gymnasts in the event, which starts at 11:30 p.m., Manila time.

Yulo’s opponents include defending champion Daiki Hashimoto of Japan and silver medalist Xiao Routeng of China.

Hashimoto and Xiao placed third and fourth, respectively, while Yulo ended ninth during the qualification round, which ended early Sunday.

Yulo, who will also vie for the gold in floor exercise on August 3 and vault on August 4, amassed 83.631 points in the all-around qualification, where the top 24 advanced to the final.

In an interview with Paris Olympics’ Scott Bregman, the 4-foot-11 Yulo boldly declared his intention to win it all, not just in the all-around event but in floor exercise and vault as well.

“[I want] a good performance. Of course, a gold medal. I want to win in the floor exercise, vault, also. I’m really shooting for the individual all-around, as well.”

Yulo’s determination to succeed stems from a frustrating finish in Tokyo, where the 2019 floor exercise world champion could not make the final event as a fall during the qualification round took him out of medal contention.

He reached the vault final but fell just short of a podium finish as he placed fourth.

Kick-starting the Wednesday contests for the Philippines is Tokyo bronze medalist Eumir Marcial, who begins his quest for gold in the men’s boxing round of 16 against Uzbek Turabek Khabibullaev at 3:04 a.m.

First-time Olympian Hergie Bacyadan takes the four-corner ring next as she battles Chinese Li Qian in the women’s 75 kg round of 16 at 6:04 p.m.

Tokyo Olympics silver medalist Carlo Paalam caps the day for Team Philippines as he locks horns in the men’s 57 kg round of 16 against Irish Jude Gallagher at 9:30 p.m.

All boxing events are being held at the North Paris Arena.