EXCLUSIVE: Emma Malabuyo’s Olympic Reality Was More Than Just a Dream
Emma Malabuyo’s Olympic debut gave her a purpose and achievement beyond the medal
With chalk in her palms and fire in her eyes, Emma Malabuyo took flight in the Paris Olympics. Carrying the Philippine colors, Malabuyo was a standout even among the world’s most elite gymnasts. Her routines conveyed the lithe beauty and explosive power that lifted her from being out of the game to part of the historic conversation as one of the first female gymnasts to compete for the Philippines in 60 years. Even after her early exit, the Filipina athlete was in high spirits—the dream became a reality, after all.
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Malabuyo served as a US gymnastics team alternate during the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, but didn’t qualify for the Paris Games. She then decided to shift her focus to fulfilling her collegiate career at the University of California, but her Filipino roots gave her another chance to compete again. Emma received a call from the Filipino National Team and she was asked to represent the country in hopes of earning a spot in the Olympics. During the Asian Championships in Uzbekistan, she punched her ticket to Paris, reigniting her Olympic dream once again.
“The first time that I really felt something was the opening ceremony,” Emma tells MEGA Active. “As we were on the boat, we saw the Philippines flag all over, and just seeing that I recognized and just really appreciated what I was doing and definitely held that Filipino pride. And then when I competed out on the competition floor, it was just so meaningful and so special.”
More Than Just A Dream
Despite the athlete missing her first attempt at reaching the Olympics, the 22-year-old went to Paris and achieved something beyond a medal: fueling the rise of Philippine gymnastics once again.
“When I think about qualifying for the Olympics or just being in Paris, I think about all the sacrifices my family has made for me and all the hard work that I put in,” she declares. “So it was a greater purpose than just a dream: I want to keep doing coaching clinics here in the Philippines and create a gymnastics program here.”
Fresh from her Paris stint, Malabuyo and fellow gymnast and compatriot Aleah Finnegan spearheaded the “Yes Girl” Women’s Artistic Gymnastics Training Clinic last August 17 in Intramuros. The Olympians, believing that the Philippines has potential to excel in the sport, brought together 80 aspiring young gymnasts to train and learn from the duo.
In a short online interview with their fellow athlete, Levi Jung-Ruivivar, she says, “We were able to connect and bond through our past—with our roots—but also with our goals for the Philippine gymnastics. The Philippines has a lot of younger gymnasts who are talented; I hope our experience motivates them even more that the Olympics is possible and that they are capable of doing that for themselves as well.”
But this is only the beginning of Malabuyo’s “greater purpose”: “I also want to be an international judge, and get into sports broadcasting, commentating, as well as hopefully continuing my gymnastics career too.”
Malabuyo had thought her Olympic dream was over. But fate had other plans—and other doors to open for the athlete in the sport. As part of the storied list of Olympians to first represent the Philippines in 60 years, her mark on the Games will endure. Her campaign, despite ending early, was a significant boost for Filipina gymnasts, considering that world champion Carlos Yulo has been the country’s lone torchbearer for the sport in recent years.
A Balancing Act
Though the Philippine women’s gymnastics delegation hasn’t been wearing the Filipino colors for long, they’ve proven to have the pusong Pinoy on and off the mat or beam. Malabuyo described her relationship with Finnegan and Levi Jung-Ruivivar as a sisterhood, a balancing act of sportsmanship and friendship, bearing little of the animus that often characterizes rivalries. “I’m so happy to have them by my side; we have such a special bond and I’m so grateful for them,” she tells MEGA Active.
The athlete considers her gymnastics career to be a balancing act of sport and the mundane, too: “I think I’ve figured out how to balance my life all around. Being in this high-level sport has really taught me how to be able to maintain and take care of my social life, my family life, and everything outside of it. So not only is it putting in all that work, but the sport teaches me so much and a lot about discipline as well.”
Not “Normal” People
Malabuyo also goes personal with MEGA Active, sharing that although she has found the balance in her life with her sport, there have been many sacrifices to be able to arrive at the Paris stage. She shares that she’s never been to regular school. “I was homeschooled my entire life, and I was only able to experience real school in college. So not having to make those friendships or even talk to other people—“normal” people, I would say, was very different. It’s very different for an athlete—you have to be 100 percent all into the sport.”
Leading a turnaround for the sport in the Philippines, Malabuyo wants to let the next generation of gymnasts know that the journey is not for the weak. “Putting time aside to get your rest and maybe sacrificing your social life a little bit, but also being able to grind and work hard every single day—that’s what it’s going to take,” she says.
But her time isn’t done yet. Malabuyo has just made her Paris debut—and there are four more years before the LA 2028 edition of the Games. “I’m going to take it year by year and see how the other competitions go. But it would be a dream to compete in LA 2028 because that’s where I’m from—it’ll be a full circle moment.”
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Photographed by DOOKIE DUCAY. Creative direction by ANDREW ENCAPAS and SEAN CASTELLO III. Styled by GEE JOCSON. Styling assistants ANGELO VASALLO and JASON MAGO. Makeup by RAM DIAZ. Hair by MA. JESSECA B. MIRANDA. Editorial Assistant JOANA FERNANDO. Sittings Editor MIA CASTRO. Shot on location PIONEER X STUDIO.
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EXCLUSIVE: Emma Malabuyo’s Olympic Reality Was More Than Just a Dream
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