OLYMPIC PARIS 2024: CARLOS YULO REIGNS IN FLOOR EXERCISE FOR PHILIPPINES FIRST GOLD MEDAL - Paris

OLYMPIC PARIS 2024: CARLOS YULO REIGNS IN FLOOR EXERCISE FOR PHILIPPINES FIRST GOLD MEDAL - Paris 

@Jackie San

The Golden Boy delivered for Team Philippines.

Carlos Yulo, tipped as one of the country's brightest medal hopes in the 2024 Paris Olympics, lived up to lofty expectations as he won gold in the floor exercise in men's artistic gymnastics.

Under the bright lights of the Bercy Arena on Saturday night, Yulo bested seven other competitors -- and enormous pressure -- as he scored a massive 15.000 after a clean routine which was tied for the highest difficulty level.

Performing third, Yulo had to wait for five other finalists -- including Great Britain's Jake Jarman, who had topped the qualifying in the apparatus -- to finish their routines. Jarman scored a 14.933, behind Israel's Artem Dolgopyat, who put up a 14.966 just before Yulo performed. The gold medalist in floor exercise in Tokyo, Dolgopyat was relegated to silver this time around.

Yulo maintained his lead through the rest of the competitors but waited with bated breath for the score of Great Britain's Luke Whitehouse to be flashed. When Whitehouse -- the final competitor -- was given a score of 14.466, Yulo yelled in elation -- an emotion felt throughout the Philippines.

"I just went for it, I didn't hesitate," said Yulo of his performance.

This is the Philippines' second gold medal in the Olympics, after Hidilyn Diaz's weightlifting triumph in Tokyo in 2021. 

For Yulo, the gold is redemption: he had failed to qualify in the floor exercise final in Tokyo, and finished fourth in the vault. But three years later, the Filipino dynamo has done what he has set out to do, and stepped to the top of the podium in his pet event. 

"I'm so overwhelmed. I'm feeling grateful for having this medal and for God. He protected me, as always," said Yulo. "He gave me the strength to get through this kind of performance and perform this well."

Yulo has a chance at one more medal in the vault final, set for Sunday evening at the Bercy Arena.

Yulo had advanced to the final of the all-around, floor exercise and vault, eventually finishing 12th in the individual all-around last Thursday.

He placed second in the qualifying of the floor exercise with a score of 14.766, behind Jarman (14.966). Meanwhile, he was in sixth place in qualification in the vault after scoring 14.683.

China's Xiao Ruoteng, the Tokyo floor bronze medallist, slumped to last in the eight-man final after hopping out of bounds after his opening jump to finish with 13.933.

Xiao had been bidding for gold to add to his silver in the men's team event and bronze in the all-around competition at the Paris Games. 

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@Jackie San