By Julian Linden, OCA Media
Nagoya, Japan, September 25, 2026: Filipino superstar Carlos Yulo won his second individual gold medal at the Asian Games on Friday with another breathtaking display of precision tumbling at Nagoya Rainbow Hall.
In other action, China’s Zou Jingyuan and Tian Hao won their first solo titles after previously teaming up for success in the team event.
A double Olympic gold medallist and multiple world champion, Yulo had already completed his set of major titles when he won his first Asian Games gold in the floor exercise 24 hours earlier.
But he made it two by winning the vault with an average score of 14.599 points after his two sprints down the runway.
“Today was really a miracle for me. I really enjoyed it. I was really scared in the training hall when I tried my vault and couldn’t land it properly, but I trusted myself. I did it already a lot of times in training, so I really just trusted myself. It really happened like that,” Yulo said.
“I was so relaxed and never felt this way before. I haven’t felt any nervousness at all. That made me really focus more on the details I wanted to do.
“I’m just really grateful and happy. I never imagined that it would be like this, even though my goal was to get a gold medal. The process to get a gold medal is really crazy. It’s point by point.”
Iran’s Mahdi Olfato won the silver medal after stumbling on his landing on his second vault.
“It was really a good performance for me. But on the second try, something was wrong for me,” Olfato said.
“I really, really tried for the gold medal, but it didn’t happen. I will do it in the next competition.”
*A two-time Olympic champion on parallel bars, Zou won his third Asian Games title on the apparatus with a dominant display, finishing a full point ahead of Japan’s Shinnosuke Oka, who won four silver medals in his homeland but no golds.
“It shows the work we did was not wasted. There were a lot of difficulties, but competition is like that, and so is life,” said Zou.
“Finishing one competition does not mean it is over. However big the event, as long as you carry on there is always another one. I cannot be champion forever, and I remind myself of that every time.
“It comes back to wanting to win honour for my country. Sometimes I think the dream I had as a child has already been reached, but what I want more is an Olympic team title. That is still a regret.
“Mostly it is about carrying on working for the Chinese gymnastics team. And yes, I am definitely going for Los Angeles in 2028.”
A triple gold medallist at the Paris Olympics, Oka looked set to win his first at the Asian Games after a brilliant performance on the horizontal bar, only to be overtaken by Tian, who received higher marks from the judges for both his execution and degree of difficulty.
China finished the artistic gymnasts program with seven golds and 13 medals in total. The host nation won 15 in all, with two of them gold.
