Filipino gymnasts Carlos Yulo and Aleah Finnegan have qualified for the Paris Olympics after meeting eligibility through their top performances at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, Belgium.
Yulo and Finnegan are the second and third Filipino athletes to secure berths for the Olympics hosted by France next year, following pole vault champion, Ernest John Obiena.
Carlos Yulo achieves goal, continues medal hunt
Carlos Yulo qualified for the 2024 Olympics, achieving what he set out to do at the International Gymnastics Federation (FIG) Worlds. He is now looking to extend his medal streak at the Men’s Floor Exercise Final this coming weekend in Antwerp, Belgium.
The two-time World Champion gymnast hopes to win another Olympic gold medal for the Philippines, following weightlifter Hidilyn Diaz’s historic gold at the Tokyo Games.
Carlos Yulo achieved what he set out to do at the @gymnastics World Artistic Gymnastics in Antwerp and secured his berth for the 2024 Paris @Olympics https://t.co/I51OUGNjsH
— GoodNewsPilipinas.com (@GoodNewsPinas_) October 5, 2023
Yulo qualified for the upcoming Olympic Games as the highest-ranked eligible athlete in Men’s Floor Exercise after scoring 14.6 points at the FIG Worlds on October 1, 2023. The 23-year-old Olympian is advancing to the final of the Men’s Floor Exercise where he first secured a FIG Worlds title, this coming Saturday, October 7.
Yulo is absent from the ongoing Asian Games hosted by Hangzhou, China as its schedule coincides with the world artistic championships. The Worlds is the only qualifier for the 2024 Paris Olympics this year.
Yulo, the first Filipino gymnast to bag multiple medals in a single competition, already boasts historic golds from the 2019 and 2021 World Championships, as well as a silver in the vault and a bronze in the parallel bars in the 2022 FIG Worlds.
WATCH Carlos Yulo’s floor exercise routine here:
Aleah Finnegan makes her dream a reality
Aleah Finnegan made her World Championships debut memorable as she secured a ticket to her first-ever Olympics appearance.
The Filipino-American gymnast finished as one of the 14 highest-ranked eligible athletes in the women’s all-around qualification of the FIG Worlds on October 3. Finnegan actually finished 32nd in the all-around qualification with a total of 51.366 points (13 points in vault, 12.433 in uneven bars, 12.7 in balance beam, and 12.833 in floor exercise), but she moved up to 5th spot among eligible athletes to secure her Olympics berth.
Finnegan’s feat is especially remarkable since this will be the first time in 60 years that the Philippines will be represented by a female gymnast in the Olympics, since Maria-Luisa Floro and Evelyn Magluyan competed in the 1964 edition in Tokyo, Japan.
The 20-year-old gymnast who plays for the Louisiana State University in the US NCAA was originally a member of the USA women’s gymnastics team but decided to represent her parental heritage last year. Her debut wearing the Philippines’ colors at the Southeast Asian Games was marked by excellent performances as she won the gold medal in the women’s vault along with the team gold. Finnegan also won two bronze medals at the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships held in Singapore last June.
“I’m just so thankful for the Philippines for giving me this opportunity that I would never have been able to take otherwise,” an emotional Finnegan told the Olympic Channel. “Just to be here honoring my family, the Philippines, and honoring my dad who is in heaven, and all the people who put in so many sacrifices for me to be here, it is really just a dream come true.”
Aleah Finnegan became the 3rd Filipino athlete to qualify for the 2024 Paris Olympics after her performance at the @gymnastics World Artistic Gymnastics in Antwerp, Belgium https://t.co/M18sukkhM6
— GoodNewsPilipinas.com (@GoodNewsPinas_) October 5, 2023
Finnegan is the second reserve for the women’s all-around final scheduled for Friday, October 6.
WATCH Aleah Finnegan’s floor exercise routine at this link.
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