HANOI—World champion gymnast Carlos Yulo bagged two gold medals and double-event athlete Kim Mangrobang snatched her second mint this time in duathlon as the Philippines went on a seven-gold harvest on Sunday in the 31st Southeast Asian Games.
Yulo, 22, was back in his best elements at the Quan Ngua Sports Palace and followed up on his all-around gold he won last Friday with victories in the rings and floor exercise, the same event that made him world champion in 2019.
Filipino-American gymnast Aleah Finnegan added the women’s vault gold to Team Philippines’ haul for also her second gold after the women’s team last Saturday. She owns a silver in women’s all-around.
Mangrobang, who added the women’s duathlon title to her victory in the triathlon last Saturday; wushu artists Agatha Wong and Arnel Mandal and Filipino-American shotput athlete William Morrison also contributed to help the Philippines to a 19-gold medal haul, the same output as Thailand.
But Team Philippines had more silver medals, with 21 to the Thais’ 16 to provisionally hold on to second place with several finals still up for completion on Sunday night.
“I’m very happy, I didn’t expect to win,” said Yulo, who scored 15.200 in the floor exercise and 14.400 in the rings. “But I’m proud of my performance.”
Yulo will still compete in the vault, where he is the current world champion, as well as in the high bar and parallel bar.
Finnegan, a 19-year-old Missouri native who was a member of the US national team that emerged triumphant in the Pan American Games in 2019, scored 13.133 in the vault, foiling the golden bid of hometown bet of Nguyen Thi Quynh Nhu who settled for the silver with 13.033.
She vies in the floor exercise and balance beam on Monday in the last day of artistic gymnastics action, which has so far propped up the Philippine campaign with five gold and two silver medals.
Image credits: NONIE REYES/Canon R6
