Video shows Azerbaijan gymnast, not the Philippines' Carlos Yulo at Olympics

Published on August 9, 2024 at 04:57
Updated on August 9, 2024 at 04:58
3 min read
By Jan Cuyco, AFP Philippines

A video of Azerbaijan gymnast Tofig Aliyev performing a tumbling routine has been shared in social media posts that falsely claimed it showed Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo at the 2024 Paris Olympics, where he won two gold medals. The clip in fact shows Aliyev at a competition in Portugal three months before the Games opened.

"I'm the one who got dizzy while watching him, he's so amazing. Yulo in Paris Olympics 2024," read the overlaid Tagalog-language text on a TikTok video that was shared on August 5, 2024.

The 11-second clip, which was viewed more than 50,000 times, shows a male gymnast performing a routine that includes a series of somersaults and twists.

The posts circulated after Filipino gymnast Carlos Yulo won gold in the men's vault at the Paris Olympics, 24 hours after claiming the floor title for a piece of Philippines sporting history (archived link).

Prior to Yulo's heroics in Paris, the Philippines had only ever won one gold medal at the Olympics.

Screenshot of the false TikTok post, captured on August 8, 2024

The same footage was also shared in posts elsewhere on TikTok, as well as on Facebook and YouTube alongside similar claims.

But tumbling has not been included as an event at the Paris Olympics (archived link). The clip in fact shows an Azerbaijan gymnast performing at a competition in Portugal.

Tumbling tournament

A reverse image search on Google using a keyframe from the falsely shared video led to the same clip posted on the official TikTok account of sports organisation European Gymnastics on April 6 (archived link).

"Aliyev Tofig is a sensation #TRA2024 | #Gymnastics | #Tumbling," read its caption, which put the gymnast's surname first and also included an emoji flag of Azerbaijan.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and the video shared by European Gymnastics (right):

Screenshot comparison of the video used in the false post (left) and the video shared by European Gymnastics (right)

Subsequent keyword searches showed that the event -- the 2024 European Championships in Trampoline, Double Mini-Trampoline and Tumbling -- took place at the Pavilhão Multiusos de Guimarães arena in Portugal from April 3 to 7 (archived link).

European Gymnastics also posted a similar video of Aliyev's routine on its official YouTube channel on April 12 (archived link).

Azerbaijani news outlet Trend News Agency reported that Aliyev won a silver medal at the championships (archived link).

AFP photos of Yulo taken during the floor exercise and vault finals at the Paris Olympics show him performing in a different coloured singlet and in a different arena to the one shown in the falsely shared video.

Below is a screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and AFP photos of Yulo competing in the floor exercise (top right) and vault (bottom right):

Screenshot comparison of the falsely shared video (left) and AFP photos of Yulo competing in the floor exercise (top right) and vault (bottom right)

AFP has previously fact-checked other misinformation related to the 2024 Paris Olympics here.

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