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Gymnast Emma Malabuyo Earns Olympic Berth

by uclabruins.com
May 24, 2024

UCLA junior Emma Malabuyo has earned an Olympic berth after a third-place all-around finish at the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan Friday. Malabuyo held the highest all-around score among athletes eligible for the Olympic quota spot, winning bronze with a score of 50.398.
 
Malabuyo, who had just missed out on a qualifying spot via the World Cup individual event circuit earlier in the year, took one last shot at the Olympics by competing in the all-around at the Asian Championships. She had not competed all four events in a meet since April 2, 2022, and her last elite all-around competition took place at the U.S. Olympic Trials in June of 2021. In the team and all-around final, Malabuyo scored 13.033 on vault, 11.466 on uneven bars, 12.566 on balance beam and 13.333 on floor exercise.

With the top qualifying score of the competition, Malabuyo will compete in the floor exercise finals on Saturday, May 26. She is also the first reserve in the balance beam final.
 
Malabuyo was an alternate for the United States at the 2020 Olympics and began competing for the Philippines in 2023, making her debut at the 2023 Asian Championships. She made history at the Championships by earning the highest-ever placement by a Filipina gymnast, winning silver on floor exercise.
 
In concurrence with the 2024 NCAA season, Malabuyo competed in four qualifying meets in the World Cup circuit in hopes of earning a qualifying bid. She earned a total of 69 points on floor exercise in her first three meets in Cairo, Baku and Cottbus but was unable to improve upon her score in her final meet in Doha and finished in third place, just shy of a qualifying spot. With the Bruins in 2024, Malabuyo earned second-team regular season All-America honors on balance beam and was the Pac-12 runner-up on the event. She earned two beam victories on the year and averaged 9.898 in 10 meets, with a high of 9.975. She also competed in nine meets on uneven bars, earning a career-high of 9.9 twice, and she also competed on floor exercise six times, with a high of 9.925.
 
Malabuyo, whose grandparents are from the Philippines, is the third Filipina gymnast to qualify individually for the Olympics, joining LSU junior Aleah Finnegan and incoming Stanford freshman Levi Jung-Ruivivar. UCLA Gymnastics has had at least one Bruin Olympian in every Olympic Games since 1984.  

The women's gymnastics competition at the Olympic Games in Paris begins on July 28.
 
UCLA Gymnasts in the Olympic Games
2020
Jordan Chiles (USA), Danusia Francis (Jamaica), Brooklyn Moors (Canada)
Alternate: Emma Malabuyo (USA)
 
2016
Madison Kocian (USA)
Alternate: Pauline Tratz (Germany)
 
2012
Jennifer Pinches (Great Britain), Kyla Ross (USA)
Alternates: Anna Li (USA), Danusia Francis (Great Britain), Peng-Peng Lee (Canada honorary)
 
2008
Elyse Hopfner-Hibbs (Canada), Samantha Peszek (USA)
 
2004
Mohini Bhardwaj (USA), Kate Richardson (Canada)
Alternates: Marci Bernholtz (Canada), Tasha Schwikert (USA)
 
2000
Michelle Conway (Canada), Jamie Dantzscher (USA), Kristen Maloney (USA), Kate Richardson (Canada), Tasha Schwikert (USA), Yvonne Tousek (Canada)
Alternates: Alyssa Beckerman (USA), Holly Murdock (Great Britain)
 
1996
Yvonne Tousek (Canada)
 
1992
Luisa Portocarrero (Guatemala), Stella Umeh (Canada)
 
1988
Alternate: Rhonda Faehn (USA)
 
1984
Gigi Zosa (Canada)
 

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