Gymnastics chief Cynthia Norton eyeing 5 golds for PH in Asian championships

Caloy Yulo looks to top the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships as he begins his quest for a spot in the Paris Olympics. PSC-POC Media Pool (file photo)

By Ivan Saldajeno

MANILA—Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion-Norton has set a lofty goal for the national team that will play in the Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships from June 10-18 in Singapore.

In an online press conference on Monday, Norton said that it has been her standard to challenge the gymnasts to rack up more gold medals than the previous editions.

"I always target more, but if it doesn't happen, I want to make sure that we get a lot of gold in our WAG (women's artistic gymnastics) and also our MAG (men's artistic gymnastics) teams," Norton said, revealing that she wants the Nationals to get at least five golds in the said event.

Headlining the men's team is former world champion Caloy Yulo, who is eyeing a spot in the World Championships once more.

The top eight gymnasts in the individual all-around event in the Asian Championships will enter the World Championships, which serve as part of the Paris Olympic qualifying.

Joining Yulo in the Philippine team are his cousin Ivan Cruz and fellow Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Miguel Besana.

Yulo won two golds as well in the SEA Games, the individual all-around and the parallel bars.

However, Norton is expecting tougher competition for Yulo and the rest of the national team in Singapore.

"China, Japan, and Korea are also there," Norton said.

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