Emma Malabuyo

Emma Lauren Malabuyo (born November 5, 2002) is a Filipino-American artistic gymnast who represents the Philippines in international competition. She is a five-time member of the U.S. National Team (2016–19, 2021) and was an alternate for the 2020 Olympic team. She is currently competing for the UCLA Bruins gymnastics team.

Early life
Emma Malabuyo was born in Mountain View, California, to Joel and Ana Malabuyo. Living in Milpitas, she began her training at Airborne Gymnastics in Santa Clara with coach Elisabeth Crandall-Howell, but in 2013 her family moved to Texas, where she trained under former world champion Kim Zmeskal-Burdette and Chris Burdette at Texas Dreams. She qualified as an elite gymnast in 2015.

Junior career
In March 2016, Malabuyo made her international debut as part of the United States' gold-winning junior team at the 2016 L'International Gymnix tournament, where she earned the bronze medal in the all-around competition, as well as two gold medals on balance beam and floor exercise. Later that month at the City of Jesolo Trophy, she won a gold medal on balance beam and earned three silver medals in the all-around, uneven bars, and floor exercise. In June, Malabuyo competed at the 2016 Secret U.S. Classic, where she finished second in the all-around behind fellow Texan Irina Alexeeva of WOGA and third on balance beam. She progressed to the 2016 P&G U.S. National Gymnastics Championships, but pulled out after competing only in the vault and floor exercises on the first day, and did not medal.

In April 2017, Malabuyo competed at the City of Jesolo Trophy, where she finished third in the all-around behind teammates Gabby Perea and Maile O'Keefe. Later that year Malabuyo won the U.S. Classic ahead of O'Keefe. At Nationals, Malabuyo finished second behind defending champion O'Keefe, but finished first on floor exercise, second on uneven bars, and third on vault and was named to the national team. She and O'Keefe were then selected to represent the United States at the 2017 International Junior Gymnastics Competition in Japan. There Malabuyo finished second in the all-around, again behind O'Keefe, and first on floor exercise.

2018
Malabuyo made her senior debut at the City of Jesolo Trophy, where she competed as an individual alongside club teammate Ragan Smith. She won gold in the all-around, balance beam, and floor exercise.

During the summer Malabuyo competed only on vault and balance beam at the U.S. Classic due to a nagging back injury, scoring 14.300 and 12.650, respectively, after falling on beam. She finished fourteenth on the event. In August she traveled with Smith to Boston to compete in the national championships, but pulled out of the event during training to avoid re-aggravating her injury. As a result, she was not named to the national team after the meet.

2019
In February Malabuyo was named to the team to compete at the City of Jesolo Trophy alongside Sunisa Lee, Shilese Jones, and Gabby Perea. As a result, she was added back onto the national team. In Italy she helped the USA win gold in the team final, and individually won bronze in the all-around behind Lee and Liu Tingting of China, and won silver on balance beam behind reigning World Champion Liu and on floor exercise, behind teammate Lee. She also placed sixth on uneven bars. She finished third overall.

In July Malabuyo was going to compete at the 2019 U.S. Classic but broke her tibia and was out for the remainder of the season.

2021
Malabuyo returned to gymnastics at the 2021 Winter Cup. She competed in three events, including a sixth place finish on beam. At the National Championships she finished fourth in the all-around. As a result she was named to the national team and selected to compete at the upcoming Olympic Trials. At the Olympic Trials Malabuyo finished ninth in the all-around and was named as an alternate for the Olympic team.

2023–24
In 2023 it was announced that Malabuyo had decided to represent the Philippines, her grandparents' country, in international competition. She made her debut for them at the 2023 Asian Championships. On the first day of competition she helped the Philippines finish fifth as a team. During event finals Malabuyo won silver on floor exercise, the highest ever result for a Filipina gymnast at the Asian Championships, and placed fifth on balance beam.

In early 2024 Malabuyo competed at the Cairo World Cup where she won silver on floor exercise behind Mana Okamura of Japan. She remained on the UCLA gymnastics team and while seeking to qualify to represent the Philippines at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. At the conclusion of the World Cup series Malabuyo was ranked third on floor exercise and did not qualify via this pathway. In late May she competed at the Asian Championships where won bronze in the all-around behind Hu Jiafei and Qin Xinyi, both from China. As the highest ranking gymnast not part of a qualified team or having previously qualified as an individual, Malabuyo earned an Olympic berth to the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

NCAA career
Malabuyo committed to University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2017; in fall 2019 she signed her National Letter of Intent, joining the UCLA Bruins of the NCAA in the 2020–21 school year.

2021–2022 season
Malabuyo earned her first perfect ten on the balance beam on March 12.