Carlos Yulo falls short of parallel bars medal, concludes stellar Asian Games

FOCUSED. The Philippines' Carlos Edriel Yulo in action during the men's parallel bars final of the Asian Games.

Edgar Su/REUTERS

Carlos Yulo narrowly misses out on a parallel bars bronze that would have been the cherry on top of his superb Asian Games run that saw him win back-to-back gold medals in floor exercise and vault

MANILA, Philippines – It may not have been the perfect ending, but Carlos Yulo has already given the country plenty of reasons to celebrate.

Yulo fell short of a third artistic gymnastics medal as he wrapped up his campaign in the 2026 Asian Games with a fourth-place finish in the men’s parallel bars at the Nagoya General Gymnasium on Friday, September 25.

The double Olympic gold medalist registered 14.3 points, just barely missing out on a bronze that would have been the cherry on top of a superb Asian Games run that saw him win back-to-back gold medals in floor exercise and vault. 

With hardly any surprise, reigning two-time Olympic champion Zou Jingyuan struck gold with an unrivaled 15.5 points — a full point ahead of Japan’s Shinnosuke, who settled for silver with 14.5 points.

Zou completed an Asian Games three-peat in the apparatus after also reigning in 2018 in Indonesia and in 2023 in China. 

Uzbekistan’s Rasuljon Abdurakhimov edged Yulo for the bronze with 14.433 points. 

Despite coming up short, Yulo has done his part, breaking the Philippines’ golden ice in this Asian Games with not just one, but two titles in his pet events.

In fact, Yulo is the only athlete in men’s artistic gymnastics to win gold medals in multiple apparatuses in this edition. Zou and Chinese teammates Zhang Boheng and Lan Xingyu also own two golds, although the other came in the team event. 

With his latest triumphs, Yulo has completed his collection, adding a pair of Asian Games golds to a trophy case already filled with titles from the Olympics, World Championships, Asian Championships, World Cup, and Southeast Asian Games. – Rappler.com