Fans of gymnast Carlos Yulo continued to rally behind him after he failed at his floor exercise routine, which was the same discipline he won the gold medal at the world championships two years ago.
Yulo missed out landings early during the artistic gymnastics qualification phase at the Ariake Gymnasium on Saturday, July 24. This was among the ongoing activities at the Tokyo Olympics 2020.
The 21-year-old world champion didn’t make it to the Top 8. He finished only at 44th place with a score of 13.566.
Despite failing to enter the finals for floor exercise, Yulo advanced to the vault final after placing sixth with a score of 14.712.
On Monday, Yulo’s coach Munehiro Kugiyama took to social media to take the blame for the Olympic mishap.
“If you want to blame, please say [it’s] his coach. If you want to say waste, please say [it’s] his coach. He is the person who [has] responsibility for what he did,” Munehiro said.
“Athlete is always trying his best. If mistakes [happen], it’s because of his coach. I’m his coach.
Caloy is Caloy even though success or fail. One of my proud gymnasts,” he added.
READ: Yulo’s Japanese coach takes blame for botched floor exercise campaign
Following Yulo’s early loss, some of his fans noticed and criticized some headlines that reported it, citing the terms “waste” and “nightmare” used in social media captions.
These words, however, are commonly used to describe losses in sports journalism.
“It’s so unfair to use the word ‘nightmare.’ Akala ko Pinoy walang iwanan, pero…” one Facebook user said.
“’Wastes best shot’? So pinaparating nila na sinayang lang? He did his best pero minsan talaga may taong mas magaling. Di niya sinayang yung ‘shot’ niya,” another online user said.
While not directly referencing the headlines, coach Munehiro stressed that their path is “not easy” and that Yulo, himself, felt “mabigat” or heavy following his loss.
He then went on and urged Filipinos to continue supporting Yulo for the rest of his Olympic games.
“Please support and play for him. I’m 100％ respect the day of his tears. And I promise this experience make him stronger than now. Do not give up until the very end. Never give and go forward always,” Munehiro said.
Under the coach’s statement, the gymnast’s fans also poured out their support for Yulo.
“Good luck on the finals in vault event Carlos Edriel Yulo. We are very proud of both of you. Don’t mind the paru-paro,” one user said.
“Thank you coach for taking care of Caloy… please don’t mind the bashers,” another user wrote.