Coming from a Southeast Asian country and setting magic in the men’s gymnastics at the Olympics doesn’t happen regularly. To give it a shape, one needs extraordinary grit and valiant effort. Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo has these components. Additionally, he has a sharp brain that picks up the suitable pieces from a structure. Later, Yulo takes lessons from those pieces and applies them to his routines. However, the world calls this process a ‘trial-and-error’ method.” At the Paris Olympics, the gymnast utilized an improvised version of the trial-and-error method. 

On August 3 this year, a shockwave went through the gymnastic world. It was the day of the men’s floor exercise event at the Bercy Arena of the French metropolis. Throughout the day, Athem Dolgopyat had been counted as the favorite to snag the title. But everything changed with the hours passing by. The ticking of the clock and the gymnastics routines on the mat were not supporting the Israeli gymnast. Instead, Carlos Yulo was experiencing a meteoric rise. In the end, he took the gold, defeating Dolgopyat. The next day, the Filipino gymnast returned to the arena with the same fire in his belly. 

This time, he had to carve his name in the vault event and he did that with a score of 15.116. In the post-match interaction, Yulo claimed, “If the first is unbelievable, the second is even more unbelievable.” But the process had never been a stroll in the park. Rather, it needed a lot of hassle. 

In his conversation with Tatlerasia.com, Yulo threw his weight behind the trial-and-error method for helping him to ace his targets in Paris. “We did trial and error, going to different countries and getting as much information as possible. When we got home to the Philippines, we chose what would work or what wouldn’t, so [that] was a big help,” he shared. This tour included many counties. But when did this realization come? 

Since his coming to Japan in 2016, Yulo’s mastery of gymnastics touched a different level. He settled his position in the world of men’s gymnastics by snagging medals in the Melbourne World Cup. The credit goes to his former Japanese coach, Munehiro Kugimaya. But with success, failure also chased Yulo. 

In the Tokyo Olympics, Carlos Yulo qualified for the vault event and left the mat, finishing fourth. Later, in the 2023 World Championships, the 21-year-old failed to collect his Olympic quota. Those failures needed an introspection and his coach decided to send him to different training facilities in countries like the Republic of Korea and Great Britain. Altogether, for Yulo, the experience was a “rollercoaster of everything.” But it taught him ‘values not only in gymnastics but also in his personal life’. Those elements have impressed him to the extent that Yulo wants to explore such opportunities in the future as well. Surprisingly, the trial-and-error method has opened a new gate for his country. 

Carlos Yulo’s trial-and-error method breaks the lock of a unique door 

In the last several years, Carlos Yulo has achieved a warm touch in Japan. He has completed his associate degree in Japan. Furthermore, in Japan, he has upped his gymnastics masterclass. Now, when the two-time world champion is walking on a silvery avenue, his country’s gymnastics wing wants to strengthen its relationship with its Japanese counterpart. Now, the first step of it has come with inking a few more collaborative options between the two authorities. On the subject, further notes came from Cynthia Carrion and Morinari Watanabe. 

Stating her side, Carrion, the president of the Gymnastics Association of the Philippines, said, “Now that I’ve experienced what we can do with one Olympian, I think we should continue doing the same thing for the others.” On the other hand, Endo Kazuya echoed the same sentiment. He additionally stated, “It excites me to know that it is in Japan where Carlos further honed his mind and body into becoming a champion through a scholarship that helped him on his winning path,” Regardless, the chiefs showcased their hope univocally to strengthen the gymnastics bridge between these two countries. Carlos Yulo felt contained with such a step.