WHILE willing to undergo another grueling grind to qualify for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, Paris Summer Games veterans Aleah Finnegan and Emma Malabuyo are keen on competing for the country in next year’s major meets, including the 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games in December.
“We will take some time for a while and consider our chances in competing for Los Angeles, but we are keen on competing for next year’s major meets, including the Thailand SEA Games,” Finnegan said over the weekend during the two-day clinic she conducted with Malabuyo.
“Aleah has already experienced competing in the SEA Games and had a wonderful time. So I want to do it as well,” said Malabuyo of her teammate who won two gold medals in the 2022 Vietnam SEA Games.
“There are also the Asian championships and the worlds, which I haven’t qualified yet, so I would want to experience that as well,” added the UCLA Bruins varsity mainstay.
In the event that she won’t be able to see action in Los Angeles, Finnegan, 21 years old like Malabuyo, expressed the hope that their Olympic debut in Paris together with Levi Jung Ruivivar “will inspire a next generation of athletes who will aspire to compete for our country in the succeeding Olympics.”
Gymnastics chief Cynthia Carrion said she is hoping there would be more homegrown talents who would be able to compete in the Los Angeles Summer Games, among them Charlie Manzano and Aisa Yulo, the young sister of Paris Olympics double gold medalist Carlos Edriel Yulo.
“Paris was just a dress rehearsal. I would like to see a team in women’s artistic gymnastics competing for the Philippines in the Los Angeles Summer Games,” she said.
Carrion said that with Malabuyo and Finnegan competing in the Thailand SEA Games, “we look forward to dominating the women’s artistic gymnastics competition in Bangkok.”
