By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipino gymnastics sensation Carlos Yulo bagged the gold medal in the parallel bars event of the FIG Gymnastics World Cup Series held in Baku, Azerbaijan, last March 11, 2023.
After a successful stint in the Doha, Qatar series of the prestigious gymnastics event where he took home three medals, Yulo continued his hot streak and scored 15.4 points in the final round.
It was a momentum-boosting gold medal win for the Filipino superstar after settling for silver and bronze during the last two editions of the parallel bars in the FIG Gymnastics World Cup.
Yulo finished second during the elimination phase and turned on the jets in the grand final round when he bested Illia Kovtun of Ukraine and France’s Cameron-Lie Bernard.
Kovtun fell short of equalizing Yulo’s fantastic championship routine and finished with 15.366 points while the French challenger had 14.6 points.
The Ukrainian gymnast was all eyes on the prize during the final round, gunning for his third-straight parallel bars gold finish in the World Cup series but Yulo earned the nod of the judges after a flawless run.
Yulo did a 15-second routine and put the crowd on their feet when he ended his run with two successful spin cycles on his way down from the parallel bars.
The 23-year-old star is having one of his best international competition starts after collecting his fifth podium finish during his past three World Cup Series stints.
Yulo will seek to continue his hot streak when he joins his lined-up international events to be determined after his participation in Azerbaijan.
