[Singapore, 3 May 2023] – Gymnastics enthusiasts can expect to see many of the world’s top gymnasts in action when the 10th Asian Artistic Gymnastics Championships takes place at the Singapore Sports Hub next month.

The June 10-18 competition, to be held at the OCBC Arena, is the first major continental event that Singapore Gymnastics is hosting and fans can look forward to witnessing some of the region’s world-beaters in their element.

Among the star names expected to be in Singapore are Filipino sensation Carlos Yulo, a two-time World Championships winner (Floor Exercise and Vault), and gymnastics legend Oksana Chusovitina, an eight-time Olympian who is still competing at the age of 47.

Yulo, 23, will be hoping to add to his tally of three Asian Championship golds. At the 2022 Doha Asian Championships, Yulo came up tops in the Floor Exercise, Vault and Parallel Bars but could only finish a close second to China’s Shi Cong in the All-Around, his total of 83.767 just shy of Shi’s 83.833.

Yulo missed last month’s FIG Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Cairo with an ankle sprain. But he is expected to feature at the Cambodia SEA Games this week and is looking forward to testing himself against some of the best in the world in Singapore. xt

“For this upcoming competition in Singapore, I’m excited to see how we have improved along with the other competitors,” he said.

While Yulo will be a name many young fans will be excited to see, there is no denying the universal appeal Chusovitina will bring.

An Olympic gold medallist at the 1992 Barcelona Games when she was just 17, Chusovitina most recently won a gold for Uzbekistan at the 2021 Islamic Solidarity Games when she was 46.

She is the oldest gymnast to compete at an Olympics, having taken part in her eighth Games at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

Apart from the Philippines and Uzbekistan, top gymnastics nations such as China, Japan and South Korea have also confirmed their participation in the Singapore championships.

Teams are scheduled to announce the line-up for the event next week. But organisers are hopeful that the likes of Chinese Taipei’s 2020 Olympics silver medallist Lee Chih-kai and Indonesia’s 2018 Asian Games silver medalist Rifda Irfanaluthfi will be among those competing in the championships.

The Asian Championships is a key event in the road to the Paris 2024 Olympics. Athletes who want to qualify for the 2024 Games will first have to do well in the Singapore Asian Championships to earn their slots to this year’s World Championships in Belgium - where Olympic qualification is up for grabs.

Singapore will also host the Asian Junior Artistic Gymnastics Championships from June 10-12, followed by the Senior Championships from June 15-18.

Said Singapore Gymnastics president Patrick Liew: “We’re excited to have the biggest gymnastics nations confirming their participation for both the Asian Senior Championships and the Asian Junior Championships.