Carlos Yulo will miss the Asian Games in favour of Worlds
Plus, Tokyo Olympian Yul Moldauer on his 2023 motivation and a look back at Team France on the balance beam from Atlanta 1996
Artistic Gymnastics
Despite reports that Filipino gymnastics star Carlos Yulo may skip September’s World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, the largest Paris 2024 qualifier in the sport, in favour of the Asian Games, the 23-year-old will in fact compete in Antwerp.
“World championships is more important. We fought for that. We worked for it so we have to go to,” said Philpinnes Gymnastics Association president Cynthia Carrion, according to Rapler.com. “Asian Games is not an Olympic qualifier.”
The two major events coincide with the Asian Games set for 23 September to 8 October and the Worlds scheduled for 30 September to 8 October.
Yulo would enter either event as a gold medal favourite. The Filipino history maker is the winner of six world medals, including 2019 floor exercise and 2021 vault gold. Earlier this year, he won four medals (two gold, two silver) at the Southeast Asian Games.
Yul Moldauer: “This year, I’ve had the fire under my belt.”
Tokyo 2020 Olympian Yul Moldauer is on a mission.
After finding himself on the outside looking in last year as Team USA’s alternate to the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Liverpool, England, Moldauer is determined to prevent history from repeating itself.
“This year, I’ve kind of had the fire under my belt of making sure that I keep my name in the picture, that I’m still relevant to the sport and that going into the Olympic year, I’m making statements of why I should be on the team,” said the 2017 U.S. champion during a media availability this week.
He’s already made an impression in the 2023 season, winning the Pan American Gymnastics Championships all-around title in Medellin, Colombia, last month, in addition to helping Team USA claim the team gold.
It’s part of the motivation he’s felt since missing out on last season’s global meet.
“That really hurt,” admitted Moldauer, 26, “I realised that mentally I was just kind of in the motion, I wasn’t all there. And so this year, I’ve been taking a different approach mentally of like, ‘No, this is what I get to do. This is what I want to do.’
“And, so, now, every time I go out and compete, I just remind myself that this is an opportunity that doesn’t happen a lot,” he concluded.
The U.S. men head to a training camp in France next week ahead of two major competitions in August: the U.S Classic (5 August in Chicago) and the U.S. Championships (24-27 August in San Jose, California).
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at the French women’s team on the balance beam from the team optionals at Atlanta 1996. The squad, which finished eighth overall, was led on the event by Elvire Teza’s 9.662. Teza was renowned for her daring work on all the events, but especially on the balance beam, where she performed a full-twisting swing down from side position.