NOT having performed in the individual all-around event the past two years but not giving up on her Olympic dream, Fil-Am gymnast Emma Malabuyo gambled by participating in the event in the 11th Senior Women’s Asian Gymnastics Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan last week.
After a fleeting moment at the top, Malabuyo’s gamble paid off handsomely, her ‘spicy’ routine enabling her to wind up third overall in the women’s individual all-around with a tally of 50.398 points at the Tashkent Sports Palace, earning a cherished spot to the Paris Olympic Games.
Based on the Olympic qualifying guidelines, only the gold medalist in the Asian meet deserved a ticket to the Paris Olympics, but since China’s Hu Jafei and Qin Xinyi, who finished 1-2 with scores of 50.699 and 50.666, had already qualified, the Pinay pixie moved up to secure the ticket.
She accomplished it by the skin of her teeth, edging out Kazakhstan’s Aida Bauyrzhanova (50.366) by just .333 of a point.
She became the country’s fourth representative in the visually pleasing and dynamic discipline after Carlos Edriel Yulo, Aleah Finnegan and Levi Ruivivar Jr.
Malabuyo became the 13th and latest Pinoy campaigner for the Paris Summer Games, joining the rest that included pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena, boxers Eumir Felix Marcial, Aira Villegas and Nesthy Petecio, weightlifters Vanessa Sarno, Elreen Ann Ando and Jose Fabuar Ceniza, fencer Samantha Catantan and rower Joanie del Gaco
“This is so awesome and amazing. I’m just overjoyed and still in shock. It’s been a long and challenging journey to get here,” noted Malabuyo of her feat, the first Filipina to win a bronze medal in the tough individual all-around in the Asian meet.
“I can’t believe it. It is a dream come true,” added the persevering gymnast, whose feat was witnessed by her father Joe.
She narrowly missed a spot in the women’s floor exercise when she finished third in the fourth and final leg of the FIG World Cup series in Doha, Qatar last month.
Knowing the high Olympic stakes involved, she acknowledged that “I definitely felt the nerves entering this competition. But then I reminded myself that whatever will happen will happen. I just believed in myself and wanted to perform my best.
“That’s all I can do at the end of the day; just enjoy the ride and have fun.”
Malabuyo said that with qualifying for the Olympics a done deal, her next step is to return to the US and upgrade her routines to excel further at the Summer Games with the help of her UCLA Bruin coach Janelle McDonald.
She still had unfinished business yesterday, eyeing to take home a gold medal in the women’s floor exercise and surpass her silver medal in the previous edition in Singapore after topping the qualifying round with 13.333 points last week.
