Men’s Floor Exercise Final
It’s been a long time in the making, but Carlos Yulo can finally call himself an Olympic champion. And it was impossible for him to hold back the tears.
After rocking his floor routine — capped off with a stuck 3.5 twist (15.000) — the 24 year old nabbed the first Olympic medal for the Philippines in gymnastics and only the second Olympic gold medal in the country’s Olympic history. Yulo is the first man to win an Olympic gold medal for the Philippines.
“I’m so overwhelmed,” Yulo said after the competition. “I’m feeling grateful for having this medal and for God. He protected me, as always. He gave me the strength to get through this kind of performance and perform this well.”
Yulo knocked off Tokyo Olympic champion Artem Dolgopyat of Israel, who improved his performance from the qualification round by five tenths, but gave away too many tenths on his landings to defend his title. Dolgopyat took home the silver (14.966).
Great Britain’s Jake Jarman entered the final as the top qualifier and impressed with his high level of difficulty — including a triple twisting double layout and a triple twisting double tuck. Jarman, however, did not stick any of his landings and was unable to top Yulo in the end. Jarman finished third (14.933), securing the first Olympic medal of his career.
