Eldrew Yulo is fighting through pain in his right foot as he competes in two more finals at the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championships.
Eldrew Yulo admitted that he was feeling the pain as he competed in the floor exercise final on Sunday for the 3rd FIG Artistic Gymnastics Junior World Championship at the Marriott Grand Ballroom in Newport, Pasay.
Yulo hurt his right ankle on Saturday after an off landing in the vault portion of the men’s all-around final, where he ended up eighth overall.
Completing his vault in the first rotation, the 17-year-old had to compete with the injury for the rest of the way — including during his pet event floor exercise where he scored a 14.300, the second best score in the apparatus during the all-around.
[RELATED: Injury-hit Eldrew Yulo to tone down floor exercise in Junior World Championships medal bid]
But the pain, which Yulo admitted bothered him all throughout his floor exercise final on Sunday, was still a big part of how things transpired.
Yulo still netted the bronze medal, but the injury looms as he still has two finals to go.
“Still, masakit pa rin po pero we still manage to compete with it and we still managed to get bronze even though I injured myself yesterday but, you know guys, it’s Filipino… We will fight to the very end. We will fight to the end even though [it hurts],” he said.
Late on Saturday, Yulo’s team iced his right foot in an effort to control any swelling.
The pain became evident after his floor exercise in the men’s all-around, where he was seen limping after completing his routine.
During the apparatus final on Sunday afternoon, Yulo said that his pain was evident from the moment he stepped out in the ballroom, but he was able to ignore any pain.
All fired up, Yulo also told his coach Reyland Capellan not to worry, and rather they’ll deal with the injury after the Junior World Championships.
“Kanina pa lang po sa podium pa lang po, nararamdaman ko na po. Sinasabi ko kay Coach Rey na linisan ko na lang, and di ko na muna masyado iintindihin to, after na lang tska ko siya iindahin,” he said.
At the end of the day, Yulo did assure that it wasn’t anything too serious, and as long as he didn’t have any more bad landings, it should be doable for the time being.
“Tolerable naman po for me,” he said.
[RELATED: GAP upbeat on Eldrew Yulo’s chances for a gold medal in Junior Worlds]
Yulo competes in the final for the vault and the horizontal bar on Monday, November 24, to hopefully add to his medal haul.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.