Carlos Yulo did not try to control the outcome.
He controlled what he could, trusted his preparation and turned to his faith and the result was another gold medal for the Philippines at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games.
Yulo ruled the men’s vault final on Friday at the Nagoya City General Gymnasium, posting an average score of 14.599 from his two attempts to claim his second gold medal of the Games.
The Filipino star opened with 14.733 before scoring 14.466 on his second vault, finishing ahead of Iran’s Mahdi Olfati, who briefly put the pressure on Yulo after producing a massive 15.100 on his first attempt.
Olfati, however, could not duplicate that performance on his second vault, scoring 13.966 after two skips on the dismount.
For Yulo, the competition was not about trying to predict what the other finalists would do. His focus was on delivering the best performance he could.
Asked whether there was ever a point when he doubted his chances of winning the gold, Yulo said he never allowed himself to get consumed by the scoreboard.
“Wala talaga po eh. Kasi nag-lean talaga po ako sa dasal ko po na, ‘Lord, Ikaw na po bahala. Ibigay ko iyung best ko. Kung para sa akin ito talaga, kahit iwasan ko ito, hindi ito magmi-mintis.,” Yulo said.
For the two-time Olympic gold medalist, surrendering the worry was important after days of stressing over parts of his routines that he felt he could not execute properly.
“So, ibinigay ko po talaga sa Kanya iyung worry ko. And iyung ini-stress ko ng mga nakaraang araw kasi hindi ko siya magawa properly. So, ’yun po,” he said.
That mindset allowed Yulo to step onto the apparatus without carrying the weight of the result.
“Wala, wala akong doubt kasi ibinigay ko na iyung lahat-lahat po eh,” Yulo continued.
The victory came a day after Yulo also captured gold in the men’s floor exercise, giving him back-to-back individual titles and the Philippines’ first two gold medals of the Asian Games.
But Yulo said the success in Nagoya is not something he sees as the end of his journey.
He still has the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics in his sights, although he recognizes the enormous amount of work that remains before he can get there.
“Of course. Ina-eye ko pa rin po siya. And siyempre, sobrang bigat po nun. Pero ’di siya imposible. Pagtatrabahuhan ko po ’yun,” Yulo added.
Yulo also said the experience in Nagoya strengthened his faith after everything he and the team went through in preparation.
“Mas lalo, mas na-build iyung faith ko dito sa competition na ito. Grabe. Sobrang nahirapan kami lahat,” Yulo said.
He acknowledged that much of the struggle behind an athlete’s success is invisible to the public.
“Maraming taong hindi nakakaalam kung ano ang dinanas namin sa training camp, and dinanas namin para mapunta dito,” he explained.
For Yulo, however, those experiences became part of what he now carries into competition.
“Hindi ko na kailangang i-share kahit kanino. Nasa sa amin na ’yun. Nasa puso na namin ’yun lahat. So, ayun ang pinanghahawakan ko po ngayon. Iyung faith ko, mas nag-grow po,” Carlos said.
Two gold medals are now around his neck, but Yulo’s approach remains unchanged: focus on the performance, trust the process and leave the result where he believes it belongs. (Jesus Nathaniel Valdez)
