CARLOS Edriel Yulo finally put the Philippines on top of the medal table at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games, capturing the gold medal in the men’s floor exercise Thursday at the Nagoya General Gymnasium.

The two-time Olympic champion scored 14.666 points from a routine with a 5.7 difficulty rating, delivering a clean and confident performance that proved enough to secure the title.

Yulo, the fourth gymnast to perform in the final, set the benchmark for the rest of the field and held on to claim his first Asian Games gold medal.

His victory ended the Philippines’ wait for a gold after the country had collected one silver and four bronze medals earlier in the competition.

Jean Claude Saclag won the silver in the men’s traditional -65kg mixed martial arts event, while the bronze medals came from Carlos Alvarez in MMA, Marie June Adriano in the women’s -50kg kumite, the Philippine women’s kata team and the women’s soft tennis squad.

The triumph adds an Asian Games title to Yulo’s already decorated résumé, which includes two Olympic gold medals at Paris 2024, three world championships and nine Southeast Asian Games golds.

Yulo will have two more chances to add to his medal haul Friday when he competes in the vault and parallel bars finals.

His younger brother, Karl Eldrew Yulo, finished seventh in the floor exercise final with 12.233 points on a 5.3 difficulty rating.

The victory gives Yulo and the Philippines a golden start to the individual gymnastics finals in Nagoya.