FILIPINO-AMERICAN gymnast and Olympic hopeful Emma Malabuyo had a shot at a podium finish last night after finishing seventh in the qualifying round to advance to the finals of the women’s floor exercise of the Cairo Cup, the first leg of the FIG World Cup series, in Cairo, Egypt.
A silver medalist in the event in last year’s Asian championships in Singapore, Malabuyo, 21, scored 12.470 points to make it to the finals of the meet serving as a qualifying competition for individual apparatuses to the Paris Olympic Games.
Based on the Olympic qualifying guidelines for women’s artistic gymnastics, the UCLA varsity mainstay, who is also bidding to compete in the balance beam, needs to wind up in the top two of any of her events in the four-leg series to punch a ticket to the Paris Olympic Games.
In an article that appeared on the olympic.com website written last week by Scott Bregman, she acknowledged that vying for the Olympics while competing for the Bruins was a balancing act, but the perky athlete said that her dream was rekindled after vying in the Asian meet in 2023.
“Competing at the Asian Championships, it kind of sort of ignited this fire inside of me of competing elite and going after my Olympic dream,” Malabuyo was quoted as saying.
“I had so much fun, and it almost felt like, oh, I’m doing both things that I enjoy. I had the support and love from the Philippines, my family, and also gymnastics. I got the best of both worlds.”
