FILIPINO-AMERICAN gymnast Emma Malabuyo took a step closer to her Olympic dream last Sunday night with a sparkling silver finish in the women’s floor exercise with a score of 12.666 points in the Cairo Cup, the opening leg of the FIG World Cup series, in Cairo, Egypt.
Introducing some difficult elements to her usual college routine, Malabuyo made her successful World Cup debut in finishing second behind Japanese and 18th Hangzhou Asian Games gold medalist Mana Okamura, who took the gold with a score of 13.066 points.
She reached the eight-woman finals after placing seventh in the qualifiers with a score of 12.466 points.
More importantly, the 2023 Asian championship floor exercise silver medalist gained her first 25 qualifying points for the Paris Olympic Games and should be able to earn more once she competes in the second leg of the series scheduled from Feb. 22 to 25 in Cottbus in Cottbus, Germany.
“Congratulations on an amazing start to your Olympic qualifying journey,” tweeted the UCLA Bruins twitted of their varsity squad mainstay shortly after her accomplishment, as the gymnast tries to do a balancing act between her collegiate career and Olympic aspirations.
Malabuyo is bidding to join Carlos Edriel Yulo and Aleah Finnegan as the country’s representatives in the artistic gymnastics discipline of the Paris Olympic Games in July.
Gymnastics Association of the Philippines Cynthia Carrion congratulated Malabuyo for the achievement while revealing that she will be joined in the Cottbus event by Juancho Miguel Besana and John Ivan Cruz as they launch their own respective Olympic qualifying bids.
Cruz, a gold medalist in the men’s floor exercise in the 2023 32nd Cambodia Southeast Asian Games, will be fresh from training with famed Japanese coach Munehiro Kugimiya in Tokyo, Japan while Besana, who took the vault title in the Cambodia SEA Games, will be coming from Manila.
Besana was supposed to join Malabuyo in the Cairo competition but was unable to secure a visa in time, according to GAP deputy secretary general Rowena Eusuya.
