PHNOM PENH—Carlos “Caloy” Yulo got what he aimed for in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games—medals and a warmup toward his journey back to the Olympics.
“The medals here are so important and the experience I got here is what I really treasure most as I head to my next competition,” said Yulo, who won gold in the regional games in men’s all-around and parallel bars and silver in rings and the men’s team event.
Yulo heads to Singapore for the Asian artistic gymnastics from June 10 to 18, a qualifier for the world championships in Antwerp, Belgium, from September 30 to October 8.
Yulo won five gold medals at the Hanoi SEA Games last year but couldn’t duplicate the feat because the Cambodians limited two the number of individual events an athlete here could compete in.
The hosts? They privileged themselves by getting themselves eligible in all events.
The Philippines won a total of four gold medals with the other two coming from Yulo’s cousin John Ivan Cruz in floor exercise and Juancho Miguel Besana in vault.
“I’m so proud of my teammates [Ivan and Juancho] for doing their best and finding a way to win,” said Yulo, a former world champion in floor exercise and vault. “Our weeklong training camp, though short, in Manila before traveling here was the key to our successful campaign here.”
Yulo praised the Vietnamese, especially in the rings where he lost to Van Khanh.
“The Vietnamese are really strong…in pommel horse, rings and bar…their skills and difficulties have improved so well,” he said. “I couldn’t beat them now but maybe next year.”
“SEA Games competitions are not really easy. We face different problems in the apparatus so we must prepared hard,” he added.
Yulo flew back to Tokyo on Wednesday morning to resume training for the Asian championships.
Image credits: Roy Domingo