Texas Dreams Gymnasts Top the Podium in Italy
Guest User
Texas Dreams gymnasts Emma Malabuyo and Ragan Smith dominated the competition at the City of Jesolo Trophy in April, taking home six medals, including the all-around gold and silver.
JESOLO, ITALY — In her senior debut at the City of Jesolo Trophy competition in Jesolo, Italy, Emma Malabuyo of Flower Mound won the coveted all-around title in a field of 37 gymnasts from some of the top international elite programs in the world.
The Texas Dreams gymnast was the youngest competitor in the senior division at just 15, but she competed like a veteran, putting up a difficult and technically strong performance to finish ahead of some of the most experienced international competitors, including world and Olympic medalists.
This was Malabuyo’s third appearance at this competition, having previously won silver and bronze all-around medals on top of a couple of event titles as a junior competitor in 2016 and 2017. In addition to her all-around win this year, Malabuyo also topped the podium on beam and floor thanks to excellent performances on both, with her floor routine a fan favorite in front of the Italian crowd.
Ragan Smith, the alternate for the 2016 U.S. Olympic team who trains with Malabuyo at Texas Dreams, won the silver all-around medal just seven tenths behind her teammate, returning to competition for the first time since an ankle injury forced her to withdraw from the all-around final at world championships in Montreal last year.
Smith, 17, started out her competition looking a little shaky on floor, and she downgraded the difficulty of her vault to focus on clean execution, but her performances on bars and beam were close to her peak ability, helping her qualify to the event finals on both in addition to posting scores that helped her outscore both Russian gymnasts in the field, who placed third and fourth.
On the second day of competition, Smith earned a pair of silver medals on bars and beam, her routines showcasing some of the greatest difficulty and execution of the meet on both.
Representing Texas Dreams, Malabuyo and Smith collectively earned the highest individual medal count at the meet with a total of six medals, ahead of international competitors as well as fellow U.S. national team members who also traveled to Italy from gyms across the country.
Going forward, both gymnasts will focus on the domestic season in the U.S. this summer, hoping to put up a strong showing at national championships as the first step on the road to earning spots on this year’s world championships team.
About Texas Dreams Gymnastics
Texas Dreams Gymnastics has a long history of training the nation’s most talented gymnasts. Owners Kim Zmeskal-Burdette and Chris Burdette and their staff operate from an enormous 36,000 square-foot arena. Zmeskal-Burdette is the USA’s first world champion gymnast and is also an Olympic medalist and International Hall of Fame member.
Texas Dreams is renowned for innovative and inspired coaching and training in all gymnastics trends and techniques. The gym has a record of developing talented athletes at every age level and has a history of placing elite gymnasts on the U.S. national team every year. For more information about Texas Dreams, please visit www.texasdreamsgymnastics.comor call 972.471.2345.