SOME THINGS never really change — and that includes the brilliance of two-time Olympic gold medalist Carlos Yulo, who kicked off the 2025 Artistic Gymnastics World Championships with a spectacular showing.
On the exciting opening day in Jakarta, Indonesia, the 25-year-old gymnastics standout once again impressed in his signature events, smoothly continuing his incredible winning form from previous competitions.
Yulo competed in Subdivision 6, grouped with elite athletes from Morocco, Thailand, Mexico, Singapore, Canada, Colombia, Qatar, Sweden, Luxembourg, and Albania.
He posted a solid 14.566 in the floor exercise — the same event where he claimed Olympic gold in Paris 2024 — finishing just behind Great Britain’s Jake Jarman, who scored an impressive 14.700.
Meanwhile, Yulo absolutely dominated the vault, landing a clean 14.9 on his piked Dragulescu and a solid 14.6 for his handspring Randi — his 14.75 average firmly stood as the top score overall.
Last Man Standing
Though still recovering from wrist injuries that currently prevent him from competing in all six events, the Filipino gymnastics icon is simply grateful to have successfully made it to the highly competitive finals.
“First of all, I want to thank God for my performance. I am also just grateful that I was safe. I am just really grateful that I got to compete, show my performance and come back here in a good state,” Yulo said.
“While I wasn’t able to do the all-around, I am still proud that I am here and still aiming for the best,” he added.
Currently, Yulo is the last man standing from the Philippine gymnast team — or the lone athlete to qualify for the apparatus finals — after his teammates unfortunately missed the cut of 24 athletes to the finals in their impressive debuts.
Juancho Miguel Besana ended up in 39th place in the all-around with 68.645 points, along with Ivan Cruz, who finished 66th overall in the vault (12.000), while Justine Ace de Leon placed 45th in the rings (12.200).
Meanwhile, the Philippine women’s national team will take the floor on October 21 at exactly 3:00 p.m. Jakarta time in Subdivision 7, together with Indonesia, Tunisia, Colombia, Mexico, and Syria.
The Men’s All-Around Final follows next on October 22, with Apparatus Finals slated for October 24 (Men’s floor exercise, pommel horse, still rings; women’s vault, uneven bars) and October 25 (Men’s vault, parallel bars, horizontal bar; women’s balance beam, floor exercise).
