Yulo Finishes 4th In Men's Vault

TOKYO –Carlos Yulo, by the smallest of breaks, missed the bronze medal in the men’s vault after an inferior execution in his first attempt at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre.

- Tito S. Talao

Yulo finished fourth behind South Korea’s Shin Jeahwan, who took the gold in the tiebreak after winding up tied with Russian Denis Abliazin with identical 14.783 total scores.

Abliazin settled for the silver while Artur Davtyan of Armenia edged Yolo for the bronze, 14.733 to 14.716.

Right on target, Yulo had 5.60s in difficulty in both vaults. But a 9.066 in execution in the first vault, where he veered to his right on landing with his foot stepping off the mat to regain balance, cost him plenty.

Yulo’s 9.266 in execution in his second vault registered higher than the ones posted by the three medalists ahead of him.

“Hindi ako susuko dahil gustong kong mag-gold (I won’t give up because I want the gold),” said Yulo.

“Sa susunod, di ako pupunta sa Olympics para maglaro lang (I won’t be going to the Olympics merely to compete).”

Petecio fights for gold

Meanwhile, the golden glow cast by Olympic weightlifting heroine Hidilyn Diaz will light the way for Nesthy Petecio Tuesday when the feisty featherweight fights for the Philippines’ second gold medal in the XXXII Olympiad at the Kokugikan Arena here.

Petecio secured the silver Saturday after going Kamikaze in rounds 2 and 3 against towering Italian Irma Testa to overcome an early deficit and pull off a 4-1 split decision victory in the 54-57 kg semifinals.

At 12 noon (Manila time), Petecio, 29, the reigning world champion in her division, faces 20-year-old Japanese Sena Irie, who barely got past her last two opponents, including Great Britain’s Karriss Artingstall, whom she defeated 3-2 in the other feather semifinal bout.