CARLOS Yulo’s bid to defend his vault title ended in a seventh-place finish at the 54th Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Rotterdam, Netherlands, on Sunday, Oct. 25.
The result marked Yulo’s second straight final without a medal after he finished eighth in the floor exercise final on Saturday.
Armenia’s Artur Davtyan captured vault gold with 14.850 points, dethroning Yulo, who won the event at the 2021 and 2025 world championships.
Yulo scored 13.833 points, combining an execution score of 8.033 and a difficulty score of 5.600, with a 0.30-point penalty.
Great Britain’s Jake Jarman took silver with 14.650 points, while Norway’s Sebastian Sponevik claimed bronze with 14.366 in the eight-man final.
Yulo entered the world championships after a strong showing at the 2026 Asian Games in Japan, where he won gold in both the floor exercise and vault. However, competing in two major international events within a month may have taken a toll on the Filipino gymnast.
On Saturday, Yulo scored 13.233 points in the floor exercise final, with 7.633 in execution and 5.800 in difficulty. He also received a 0.10-point stick bonus but incurred a 0.30-point penalty.
The floor exercise and vault are among Yulo’s strongest events. He won gold in both at the 2024 Paris Olympics, cementing his status as one of the Philippines’ leading gymnasts.
Despite missing the podium in Rotterdam, Yulo’s campaign followed another major achievement at the Asian Games. His back-to-back final finishes without a medal, however, leave him short of the world-title defense he had hoped to deliver. FROM THE WIRES