OLYMPIC-BOUND Emma Malabuyo put the icing on the cake on her memorable outing in the 11th Senior Women Artistic Gymnastics Asian Championships last Sunday night, ruling the women’s floor exercise with panache at the Sports Gymnastics Palace in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.
Three days after booking a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games with a bronze medal finish in the women’s individual all-around, Malabuyo scored 13.300 points to romp off with the gold in her pet event, relegating China’s Chen Xinyi to the silver (13.133) and Kazakh Aida Bauyrzhanova to the bronze (13.066).
The UCLA Bruin varsity mainstay surpassed the silver medal she won in the 2023 edition of the meet in Singapore and will join Carlos Edriel Yulo, Aleah Finnegan and Levi Ruivivar as the country’s gymnastics representatives in the quadrennial global sports showcase.
Ruivivar also capped her debut in the Asian meet by securing the bronze in the women’s uneven bars with a score of 13.100 points.
Supported by FILAM Sports, Malabuyo was headed to Manila yesterday upon the invitation of Gymnastics Association of the Philippines president Cynthia Carrion and is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on Philippine Sports Commission officials tomorrow.
She will also have an opportunity to showcase her skills to a hometown audience when she does a demonstration at the GAP national training center in Intramuros, Manila on Thursday.
