The balancing act that is the life of a college student-athlete, much less one with Olympic aspirations.
Even that is a balancing act in itself, honoring both her birthplace, the United States, and her ancestral homeland, the Philippines.
And, most of all, the biggest act of them all, balancing the highest of the highs and the lowest of lows.
As any gymnast will tell you, what goes up must come down.
But sometimes they go back up again.
At her lowest, Malabuyo cried for three straight days.
She'd gone all the way to the Doha World Cup in Doha, Qatar, with a singular goal and an ambitious one at that: To earn a coveted spot in the Olympics. Emma Malabuyo competing against Arizona
at Pauley Pavilion in 2024 (Photo: Jesus Ramirez)
She finished a disappointing 10th on floor exercise, which, for the UCLA All-American, is anything but routine. She was devastated. She'd desperately needed to earn more qualifying points, and she came up empty.
It didn't even need to be like this.
This was a far-off dream, one Malabuyo had abandoned years prior, only to be drawn back by an entirely new nation. She'd put her Olympic hopes in her rear-view mirror, but a fateful phone call resurrected them, and to come up short was the kind of heartbreak that can bring an athlete to her knees.
Now it felt like the dream was officially dead.
Only…it wasn't.
Her UCLA coach, Janelle McDonald, was not going to let her go down without a fight.
She proposed a wacky idea: why don't you put together an all-around routine for the Asian Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, in late May?
It wouldn't be easy. She had not competed in all four events in more than two years, and her last elite all-around competition took place at the 2021 U.S. Olympic Trials, almost three full years ago.
"After we came into the gym, she was still a little disappointed, sitting on the floor and tearing up with (teammate) Brooklyn (Moors)," McDonald said. "I said, 'We can get an all-around program together,' and she said, 'OK, let's get after it.' That is such a special quality she has. She's going to make things happen for herself.
"It was a special moment to see her be disappointed and shift that into motivation. She worked really hard in four weeks to get a program together."
It paid off.
On Friday, May 24 at the Asian Championships, Malabuyo finished third in the all-around competition. She also added a gold medal two days later with a near-flawless floor exercise.
She punched her ticket.
She's an Olympian, headed to Paris later this summer.
Malabuyo holds up the Philippine national flag shortly
after qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games at
a meet in Tashkent, Uzbekistan on May 24.
"I remember sitting in my seat, Janelle is shaking, I'm closing my eyes and we all screamed and everybody gave me hugs," Malabuyo said. "My dad is crying, we face-timed my mom, and she is crying. I thought about how I finished the last competition and how hard I've been working. I did it for my family, for my coaches, and for the Philippines, too."
From the lowest of lows to the highest of highs.
What comes down must go back up, too.
Malabuyo was ready to take it easy.
Well, if you consider college gymnastics easy, which you'd be crazy to.
But as a member of the U.S. National team from 2015-21 and an alternate for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics (which were held in 2021 because of the COVID-19 pandemic), Malabuyo was sure she'd reached her peak.
"After 2020, I was like, I'm going to college to end my career on a high note," she said. "(Team) USA, I don't think I have a shot. I'm just going to be happy."
And she was.
Her senior elite career had brought her much success but also abundant frustration, courtesy of ill-timed injuries that derailed grand ambitions. She was satisfied with what she'd accomplished on the national and international level and was more than content competing solely for UCLA and attempting to lead the Bruins back to the mountaintop.
And then she got a phone call from a member of the Filipino National Team coaching staff.
Would she consider competing for the country of her grandparents' birth? This was part of a grand strategy by the team to recruit Filipino-Americans with the potential for dual-citizenship, in order to bolster the program's Olympics chances. After all, the country has sent more than one gymnast to the world showcase just twice — two in 1968 and four in 1964.
Malabuyo had to consider the invitation. She wasn't sure that she wanted to reignite the flame, nor face the rigorous training, travel and competition schedule that both college and elite gymnastics would demand.
She was only sure of one thing. She knew it would be an honor to represent the Philippines.
"When I was younger, my grandparents lived with us, and we'd have Filipino parties and gatherings," she said. "They told me stories of how they met and what life was like in the Philippines. And when I think about it in the grand scheme of things, it comes down to love.
"Whenever you meet a Filipino, it's like, you're my family. Even competing on the international level, I'd get off floor and I'd have people come up to me, 'We made signs for you!' There was a whole section of Filipinos cheering me on. Before I competed my beam routine, I thought, 'This is not for me.' I felt like I was performing for them." UCLA Head Coach Janelle McDonald and Malabuyo
at the Asian Championships in 2024.
It was at those family parties that Malabuyo fell in love with her culture. Over bowls of sinigang and plates full of lumpia, Malabuyo watched as her elders regaled each other with tales of their homeland and sang hours upon hours of karaoke. The parties would start at 6 p.m. and last until 2 a.m., and when you're a little kid, that might as well be paradise.
The fact that she'll get to represent the country of her familial origins is not lost on her. Nor is the fact that she's finally going to live out that dream.
"There's so many things I'm so excited for," she said. "I can't stop thinking about the Olympic Village, and being surrounded by top athletes from all over the world."
And she's one of them, which she credits to a combination of things.
"(Reaching the Olympics) is this amalgamation of so many different things," Malabuyo said. "Hard work, support, the right amount of luck. The stars have to align.
