Flavia Saraiva on achieving global triumphs after overcoming injury: "I thought medals weren't for me"

Brazilian gymnast Flavia Saravia’s 2023 season taught her important lessons.

"I am more confident with my body, knowing that it is prepared to withstand everything that comes. It is strong and it’s the most important thing of all to me," Saravia told Olympics.com in an exclusive interview at last month’s Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.

"It’s about having fun and enjoying every moment, every competition, getting there and doing my best."

Bu at times - especially lately - getting there has been the hard part.

Saravia’s career has been marked by unmistakable talent and seemingly unavoidable injuries. Her 2021 and 2022 seasons ended in ankle injuries that both required surgery to repair.

The struggles seemed insurmountable at times, Saraiva told Olympics.com in Santiago. At certain points this season, she thought about stepping away from the sport and moving on with life.

But spurred on by her coaches, trainers and teammates, she persisted.

It paid off in spades as the 24-year-old helped her squad secure a Paris 2024 Olympic quota spot and team silver medal (Brazil’s first) before taking her first individual global medal, a bronze on the floor exercise.

"Even if I hadn’t had those results – I’m obviously much happier with the medals – but being able to finish the entire World Championships was my main objective," Saravia said. "I didn’t go to the World Championships thinking that I could have those historic results for my country."

Like a family

The team that took silver at the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, is one of veterans with two-time Olympians Saraiva, Rebeca Andrade and Jade Barbosa comprising the core of the squad.

It’s also a tightknit one.

"The girls have always been my family, ever since I was 10 years old and I went to live with some athletes,” explained Saraiva. “I’ve lived with them forever. I’ve lived with Rebeca, I’ve lived with Jade. They’re my family."

She lists an extended family of sorts, adding the importance of her coaches and trainers to her and her teammates efforts.

Head coach Francisco Porath, in part, is responsible for convincing Saraiva not to give up the sport as she rehabbed following her second consecutive ankle surgery.

That rehab – and Porath – resulted in noticeable improvement for Saraiva on the uneven bars, where she went from 37th in the world in 2022 to 23rd this season and earned her first Pan Am Games medal on the event in her career.

"I spent four months, five months, just training bars because I couldn’t do the other apparatuses," she said. “I was able to evolve a lot. I was able to clean up the routine a lot thanks to my coach Chico, who was very patient, because I have a lot of difficulty with the uneven bars.

"So having him there by my side, on the days when I’m suffering, on the days when I’m not getting it right," she continued. "I don’t have anyone else to thank on bars other than Chico."

Paris 2024 around the corner

The struggles and then triumphs have given Saraiva a lot to think about – and a fresh perspective.

"We always think a lot ahead and this year, I had to think a lot about now. What am I going to do now? What can I do to improve now? This year will be marked in my life because I believed, because I had people who believed along with me. I thanked them because without them, I would not be here today," Saraiva said.

“I thought medals weren’t for me. I thought that I would not be able to have half the result I had because of many things that happened over the years with me, and achieving those results was the consequence of a team’s work behind me, not mind.

"When I was 16, I could have already won an Olympic medal, I could have won a world medal, but I didn’t," she continued. "Maybe I wasn’t ready to receive a medal and to be able to be ready this year, after everything that happened to me, I think that’s very satisfying."

The ups-and-downs for Saraiva’s post Tokyo 2020 career have also sped up time, it seems, as the gymnastics star can hardly believe the Paris 2024 Games are less than 250 days away.

"This was a short cycle and for me, who had surgery, it was also even shorter because I had to recover many times," she said.

"I’m already very excited, very anxious and very happy to have finished an entire competition and say, ‘Now, I’m ready for Paris without any difficulty.’"