The Philippines' golden boy has done it again.
Carlos Yulo has delivered the Philippines' first gold medal of the 20th Asian Games, ruling the men's floor exercise final on Thursday at Nagoya City General Gymnasium -- and making history as the country's first Asian Games gold medalist in artistic gymnastics.
Yulo posted the highest score of 14.666 to secure the gold, topping Kazakhstan's Milad Karimi and Japan's Shoma Tsukiyama.
"The performances of Kazakhstan and Japan were also really good. The competition was so close. It really just came down to the smallest details," Yulo said in Filipino on ONE News.
"I'm just really overwhelmed. I still can't believe that this was the result."
The two-time Olympic gold medalist posted a 5.7 difficulty score and an 8.966 execution score -- the highest among the competitors -- to clinch gold by a 0.066-point margin over Karimi, who scored 14.600, and Tsukiyama, who settled for 14.566.
Yulo also overcame an additional challenge, with the other podium finishers receiving a 0.1 bonus in their final scores. Despite the disadvantage, he still prevailed and won his first continental stage title.
"The judges were also really strict today. I felt like I was competing on the world stage. I'm really grateful. God is really good that no one got hurt or sustained any injuries, and we were able to bring home the gold medal," Yulo said.
Yulo already displayed top form on this apparatus from the get-go, entering the final as the top qualifier after scoring 14.600 in the preliminary round. He also led the field in the men's team final on Wednesday, scoring 14.266 on floor as the Philippines finished sixth.
This gold adds another major milestone to Yulo's résumé after he won Olympic gold in both floor exercise and vault at the 2024 Paris Games and captured the floor exercise title at the 2026 Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships.
"This felt like the Olympics. It's my first time winning a medal at the Asian Games, and this is also my second time competing here. I messed up during the Tokyo Olympics. I messed up at the Jakarta Asian Games. Now, I was able to redeem myself here," Yulo said.
"I felt like this was my best performance today, so I'm really happy that I was able to do it."
Meanwhile, his younger brother Karl Eldrew Yulo registered 12.223 to place seventh in his Asian Games debut. The 18-year-old stumbled early in his routine, which put him just ahead of China's Sun Wei, who finished with 10.566.
"It's really tough and a difficult situation for Eldrew, but I know my brother can get through it. I'm always here to support him," the older Yulo said.
"Mistakes like that are something we all experience. It's normal for them to happen in competitions. We just have to accept them so we can learn and move forward. I don't want my brother to dwell on his mistake. I want him to use it as fuel for his future competitions."
Carlos Yulo's gold also lifts the Philippines' medal haul to six, with one gold, one silver and four bronze medals.
He will receive a 2 million cash Philippine pesos incentive pursuant to Republic Act No. 10699, or the National Athletes and Coaches Benefits and Incentives Act, which grants Filipino athletes the said amount for winning a gold medal at the Asian Games.
Carlos Yulo will return to action in the vault and parallel bars finals on Sept. 25, with a chance to add another Asian Games gold medal to his haul and bolster the Philippines' medal tally.
Karl Eldrew Yulo will also compete in the high bar final, while Miguel Besana joins Carlos in the vault final.
