Carlos Yulo leads Philippine sports' May achievers

MANILA, Philippines – World champion gymnast Carlos Yulo dazzled against Asia’s best to anchor a brilliant outing for Philippine athletes in the month of May.

Yulo collared four gold medals in the Men’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan as he flaunted his top form in the run-up to his second Olympic stint at Paris.

The 24-year-old Yulo triumphed in the Individual All-Around (IAA) with 84.931 points and dominated the floor exercise (14.933), vault (14.883) and parallel bars (15.133) to spearhead a very fruitful campaign for the gymnasts and earned the nod as the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s top achiever for May.

Yulo’s kid brother, Karl Eldrew, copped the gold in vault in the juniors division with a winning of 14.433 to complement Carlos’ feat.

In the Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Asian meet held immediately after, Filipino-American Emma Malabuyo won the bronze in the IAA at 50.398 en route to clinching a ticket to the 2024 Olympiad.

Malabuyo, who later reigned supreme in the floor event (13.300), joined Yulo, Aleah Finnegan and Levi Jung Ruivivar in the contingent to Philippine Paris. She was the 13th qualifier overall for Team Philippines.

Paris-bound EJ Obiena and Bianca Pagdanganan as well as the crowd favorite Alas Pilipinas women’s volleyball team also sparkled in the fifth month of 2024.

Pole vault ace Obiena opened the outdoor season with a golden performance in the LA Grand Prix at 5.80 meters. Despite problems with his pole, Obiena later copped the silver in the Oslo Bislett Games Diamond League event in Norway at 5.72m.

Pagdanganan placed joint seventh in the LPGA Mizuho Open in Jersey City with a 9-under 279 card. The power-hitting Pinay earned $64,365 (around P3.71 million) and solidified her standing inside the ‘Magic 60’ cutline for women's Olympic golf at 35th with this strong finish.

Alas Pilipinas took the bronze in the AVC Challenge Cup via a 23-23, 25-15, 25-7 disposal of Australia in front of a full house at Rizal Memorial Coliseum. This marked the country’s first AVC podium finish in 63 years — an achievement made even sweeter by the awarding of Jia de Guzman and Angel Canino as Best Setter and Best