Emma Malabuyo and her Olympic journey from falling short to going to the big stage

At one point in her career, Emma Malabuyo thought her Olympic dream was over.

Apparently, it was only just starting as the 21-year old Malabuyo will carry the Philippine colors for women's gymnastics in the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The Filipino-American gymnast is among Philippine gymnastics' four-member delegation to Paris, alongside fellow Fil-Ams Aleah Finnegan and Levi Ruivivar, and golden boy Carlos Yulo.

From being an alternate to being the star

Before representing the Philippines, Malabuyo was actually very close to making it to the Olympics as she was named as one of the alternates of USA Gymnastics for the Tokyo Olympics.

While with the USA, Malabuyo won three gold medals in the City of Jesolo Trophy in 2018, and was part of the team which won the gold in the same tournament a year after.

She then switched federations in 2023 where she made her debut for the Philippines in the Asian Championships. There, Malabuyo bagged a silver medal in the floor event.

In the Cairo leg of the FIG World Cup, Malabuyo also copped a silver in the floor event.

However, in her road to Paris, Malabuyo was hurt the most when she fell short of a spot during the Doha leg of the World Cup.

"I remember just crying for three days straight, I couldn't sleep because I was so close to qualifying, I thought this is over, I'm done," Malabuyo said in JP Soriano's 24 Oras report last June 11.

A shoulder injury was also bugging her while she was qualifying for an Olympic slot.

"They (family) really encouraged me and they really believed in me so I felt really motivated to do it for them and for the Philippines," she said.

Through determination and as fate would have it, Malabuyo eventually booked a ticket to the Summer Games through the Asian Championships. In the tournament, Malabuyo won gold in floor and got a bronze in all-around. The third place finish was enough as she became the highest placing athlete eligible for a quota slot.

"I accomplished my dream, my goal," she said.

"They were just crying when they found out. They've seen me work so hard over the years and they were just really proud. Not only proud of me, but also proud that I'm representing the Philippines."

The biggest names in the biggest stage

The biggest stage in sports also deserves the biggest names in each sport.

In just the Philippines' subdivision alone in the Games, Malabuyo, Ruivivar, and Finnegan will go against Olympic balance beam gold medalist Sanne Wevers of the Netherlands, World Cup Cairo leg floor and apparatus gold medalist Mana Okamura of Japan, and Asian Games gold medalist An Chang-ok of North Korea.

In the whole tournament, also competing are big names such as USA's Simone Biles and Suni Lee.

—JKC, GMA Integrated News