Emma Malabuyo readies for Asian Championships: "I have complete ownership of my own gymnastics."
The Tokyo 2020 U.S. alternate and UCLA standout is set to return to elite gymnastics in Singapore for the international event (15-18 June) in search of a new challenge.
Artistic Gymnastics
As gymnast Emma Malabuyo thought about joining the Filipino national team for the Asian Gymnastics Championships (15-18 June) in Singapore, she couldn’t shake the feeling that there was something left in the sport she wanted to accomplish.
“I started really thinking about it, and I was like, ‘You know, I’m playing in the gym. I can still do these difficult skills,’ and I was like, ‘Why not?’” Malabuyo said last month in an exclusive interview with Olympics.com. “There’s still some unfinished business in my career, and I want to go back to elite gymnastics and really challenge myself.”
A promising young gymnast for Team USA, Malabuyo placed second all-around as junior at the 2017 U.S. Championships.
But after the 2017 season, injuries derailed the start of her senior career, including keeping her from both the 2018 and 2019 U.S. Championships.
“I have always wanted to compete at a world championships and I would always get injured right before, so that was definitely hard on me,” explained Malabuyo, before adding of her return to elite-level gymnastics: "I love competing internationally so I think the goal would be hopefully to qualify to a world championships and then, maybe, from there, possibly competing in the Olympics would be a dream.”
Competing for the U.S., Malabuyo came ever so close to the Games.
She had a breakout performance at the 2021 U.S. Championships, where she finished fourth all-around. Weeks later, her ninth-place finish at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials earned her a spot as an alternate forTokyo 2020.
She’s spent 2022 and 2023 as a standout on the UCLA women’s gymnastics team, recording a fourth-place finish on the balance beam at the NCAAs in 2023.
Emma Malabuyo: "I miss the difficulty and the challenge that comes with elite gymnastics."
Still, something driving her to try to add to her already impressive gymnastics résumé.
“After my freshman year of college gymnastics, I was like, ‘Wow, actually, the season wasn’t as tiring as I thought,’” Malabuyo explained. “Over the summer, I would play with skills, like my Arabian on beam, or I can do my layout, layout still or double Arabians and stuff like that. It’s fun being clean and trying to be perfect at least for college gymnastics, but I still miss the difficulty and the challenge that comes with elite gymnastics.”
At the Asian Championships, she may face quite the challenge to advance to the worlds.
With Malabuyo not planning to compete for one of the individual all-around spots on offer in Singapore, Malabuyo’s chance at extending her elite season in 2023 relies on the Philippines slipping past the Republic of Korea and Chinese Taipei for one of the two team qualifying spots available.
It could be a tall order, but they’ll look to fellow former U.S. elite gymnast Aleah Finnegan, a member of the U.S. team at the 2019 Pan American Games, and Level 10 national champion Kylee Kvamme to boost their scores.
Seeing Finnegan compete at last year’s Southeast Asian Games for the Philippines is part of what drew Malabuyo to the opportunity this season, she says.
“[Finnegan’s] like, ‘Oh, I wish Emma was with me!’ and then after watching her compete, it kind of inspired me, as well,” said Malabuyo. “She’s doing amazing, and she was just wanting me to join her, too, and I was like, ‘You know what? Let’ see what I can still do.’ So, just watching her compete was very encouraging.”
Taking ownership of her gymnastics
Because of the last-minute timing of the decision to compete at the Asian Championships (the whole idea came together in the weeks immediately following April’s NCAA Championships ) Malabuyo’s focus is on clean, beautiful gymnastics and on two events only: The balance beam and floor exercise.
It’s a new chapter in the sport for the 20-year-old, one that’s given her a newfound agency.
“Competing for the Philippines, I have complete ownership of my own gymnastics,” said Malabuyo. “I have that leadership role over what I’m training, what I’m doing, so that’s definitely different, just having that flexibility and ownership over my own gymnastics.
“I think that’s just going to help me train and be prepared,” she concluded.
No matter what happens, Malabuyo is likely to relish the opportunity. She says she wants to make her grandparents, born in the Philippines, proud and that competing has become her favourite part of the sport in recent years.
“I’m a competitor and I just lover performing for a crowd and the challenges of gymnastics. I don’t like when anything in life is actually too easy,” Malabuyo said. “So, the challenge that comes with the sport and then when it pays off, it’s just so reward. I love that feeling and I love performing.”