FIL-AM gymnast Emma Malabuyo’s Olympic dreams are far from over despite narrowly missing a podium finish in the third leg of the FIG World Cup series in Baku, Azerbaijan last Sunday.
Banking on her near-flawless execution that netted her the highest score in that department with 8.233 points, the perky Malabuyo tallied 13.133 points, counting 4.9 points in the degree of difficulty, to wind up fourth at the National Gymnastics Arena in the Azerbaijani capital.
The UCLA Bruin varsity mainstay was eased out by Algeria’s Kaylia Nemour, who took the bronze (13.266) while Austrian veteran Charlize Morz (13.566) and Chinese Ou Yushan, the 2019 world junior floor exercise silver medalist, (13.533) took the gold and silver medal, respectively.
Malabuyo earned 25 precious ranking points that kept her No. 2 overall in the World Cup series rankings with 69 points behind the pacesetting Morz (80) and way up on third placer Laura Casabuena (45) of Spain, with the final leg scheduled for April 17 to 20 in Doha, Qatar.
The popular Gymternet website explained that “at the conclusion of the four apparatus World Cups, the top 2 gymnasts with the highest three-meet point total on each apparatus will be eligible to qualify for the Olympic Games if their National Olympic Committee hasn’t qualified a team and they haven’t already qualified individually.”
Malabuyo has already met the three-meet requirement after also vying in the opening leg in Cairo, Egypt, where she won a silver medal in the event, and in the following stop in Cottbus, Germany, earning 14 points after finishing 13th overall in the qualifying round with a score of 12.60 points.
She has publicly said she prioritizes performing with the Bruins should they qualify for the US NCAA nationals from April 11 to 14 at West Chester University in West Chester, Pennsylvania.
Assuming she is up to it, Malabuyo will have a two-day break before the actual competition in the Qatari capital.