From legend to legacy: Can Rebeca Andrade make more history at Paris 2024?
At the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Brazilian gymnastics star Rebeca Andrade is poised to add more medals and historic feats to her illustrations career.
The last two seasons have seen Andrade both solidify her status among the legends of the sport and also inspire as the 25-year-old continues to defy the odds after a series of injuries that could have ended her career.
Instead, she preserved and pushed all the way to the top step world and Olympic podiums.
Her history-making efforts began at the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, where she became the first South American woman to make it to the all-around podium, finishing second to Team USA’s Sunisa Lee. Days later, Andrade became the first Brazilian woman to win gold at the Games, claiming the title on the vault.
At the World Championships, she has now amassed nine medals including a historic 2022 world all-around title, the 2023 vault title, and a first-ever team medal last season.
“I don’t think I imagined the number of medals, but I really wanted that,” Andrade told Olympics.com of her 11 career World and Olympic medal haul. “From the moment I had it in my head that that was what I wanted, I knew it could happen.
“It didn’t go through my head every day,” she continued, “If I said this went through my mind, it would be a lie, but every time I arrive at a competition, it’s to fight.”
A changed approach
Her determination – and yes, fight - has paid off, as she’s battled back from ACL tears in 2015, 2017 and 2019 that would have given her an easy excuse to leave the sport.
She didn’t.
Determined to see her talent shine, Andrade retooled her approach to training and competition – where she often sits out vault and floor exercise – with the complete trust of her coach, Francisco Porath.
“I have complete freedom to talk to Chico [Porath] and he knows that when I'm in pain, I tell him that, 'Today, it is very difficult. Is it okay for us to hold off on that workout, to do a lighter workout?' because he knows that the next day I'm going to arrive at the gym and I'm going to do my best,” explained Andrade of her approach. “This is very important to me. This exchange that we have, this trust that we have in each other - and also, the physical part, the physical trainer, the multidisciplinary part also with physiotherapy, massage therapy, psychologist [is important].
“I think that the combination of all these things makes me feel good and prepared, even after all the surgeries, even after long days of competition, of coming and talking like this, 'everything will work out. I'm fine, I can do it,'” she continued. “Even though I'm extremely physically or, sometimes, mentally tired, you know? I think the preparation that we do daily inside the gym helps. It prepares me to be here.”
A friendly rivalry
Women’s competition in Paris will likely focus on Andrade and American superstar Simone Biles. The two combined to win all but one of the gold medals at last year’s World Championships.
But despite being each other’s biggest rivals on the floor, the duo shares a supreme appreciation for each other.
Earlier this year, the Brazilian recounted a moment from the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, where Biles lifted an imaginary crown from her own head before placing it on Andrade’s.
“I saw it as something genuine, spontaneous, to recognise the position she has in gymnastics in the world,” said Andrade of the moment, according to Brazilian Marie Claire. “I’m so proud to know that I can continue her legacy. Not just me, but so many others. It’s the sport we love. It was a huge honor to have her competing again, happily. It was incredible energy, one of the best competitions of my entire career.”
It wasn’t the first time she and Biles had shared a kind moment with Andrade telling the magazine that the American had encouraged her to continue in the sport at the 2018 Worlds as she worked her way back from the second of her three ACL tears.
“It was just the two of us at that time,” Andrade said. “She didn’t need to say anything, she spoke from the heart. We maintain this relationship of admiration.”
That admiration has Andrade hoping that both women deliver their best in Paris.
“It’s about doing my best, and I hope [Biles] does, too, that she does her best because it’s an honour to be able to compete alongside her,” Andrade said, according to the AFP.
Swan song in Paris?
Paris 2024 will be Andrade’s third trip to the Olympic Games, and the event could be the superstar’s career finale.
“I don’t know,” she said about her future in the sport. “It’s going to depend on my body.”
But no matter what happens after Paris, Andrade wants her fans around the world to know one thing about the upcoming Olympiad: she’s giving it everything she’s got.
“They should wait for me to give 110%, regardless of what happens in the competition,” she said. “I need them to know that, you know? That we will arrive to do our best. I will get there, give myself, body and soul, even with all the attention and expectations.
“I think the main thing is to arrive at the competition, do my best and be very happy,” she continued, “because the only person I can control is myself. I hope to be able to bring a lot of joy to my country.”