Gymnastics chief hopes Carlos Yulo 'more relaxed' in Tokyo vault finals

Gymnastics Association of the Philippines (GAP) president Cynthia Carrion is hoping that Carlos Yulo will have a more relaxed performance despite a heavyweight field come the vault finals on Monday.

Carrion admitted that competing against some of the world's best could cause pressure but stressed Yulo should just focus on his routine.

"Hopefully he is more relaxed this time,” said Carrion in a statement released by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

“But watching all the great gymnasts from all over the world could be intimidating.”

In the vault finals, Yulo will go head-to-head with seven strong competitors hailing from Turkey, Brazil, Armenia, South Korea, and the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC).

Korea's Shin Jeahwan is the top seed after a 14.866 finish during the qualifications while Armenia's Artur Davytan is coming second with 14.866 as well.

ROC's Nikita Nagorny is at third spot with 14.783 performance while Yulo wound up in sixth place after tallying 14.712.

Carrion stressed that Yulo has a shot at the podium despite a field of strong contenders.

"According to Coach Mune [Kugimiya], the two top vault athletes are Korea and Turkey with the difficulty of 6.02,” Norton noted.

“Caloy’s difficulty is 5.60. If Shin and Onder earn deductions and Caloy makes a perfect score, we have a good chance.”

The medal round of the vault is tipped to start at 5:51 p.m. with Yulo hoping to end his Tokyo campaign on a high note.

Yulo didn't make it to the top 8 of his favorite event, the floor, after placing 44th with a score of 13.566.

He also finished with a score of 14.000 in the rings, 13.466 in the parallel bars, 12.300 in the horizontal bar, and 11.833 in the pommel horse---all of which were not enough to earn himself a finals ticket.

—Bea Micaller/JMB, GMA News