Rebeca Andrade set for first competition of 2023
Fans will get a first look at the 2022 world all-around champion Friday (18 August) at the Brazilian championships
Artistic Gymnastics
After two historic seasons in 2021 and 2022, reigning world all-around champion Rebeca Andrade of Brazil will make her season debut Friday (18 August 2023) at the Brazilian Gymnastics Championships in Lauro de Freitas in Bahia, Brazil.
At the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, held in 2021, she became the first from her nation to win Olympic gymnastics gold, taking the vault title, and also the first Brazilian to climb to the all-around podium, finishing second behind Team USA’s Sunisa Lee.
She followed that success up with vault gold and uneven bars silver at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.
In her most recent competition, she achieved another Brazilian first, winning all-around gold at the 2022 World Championships in Liverpool, England.
Andrade has made making history look easy. Jumping, flipping, balancing with the greatest of ease.
But behind all the achievements, the gymnastics world had been waiting for Andrade's once-in-a-generation talent to come to fruition since she first made her senior international debut in 2015.
ACL tears in 2015, 2017, and 2019 would have given her every excuse to move on from the sport. Instead, she forged ahead, sending a powerful message to her legion of fans.
“I really wanted an achievement like this in the individual all-around, because I think that's where I have the most chances with vaulting, as well,” said Andrade during an exclusive interview with Olympics.com after the conclusion of the 2022 World Championships. “But having in my career, even just once in my life, being the most complete athlete in the world was very important to me. This gold is very important to me, so I am very happy.”
With Biles back, how will Andrade respond?
At the 2022 World Championships, Andrade scored a big win in the all-around final, totalling 56.899 points ahead of silver medallist Shilese Jones of the United States’ 55.399.
Though 1.500 margin of victory is massive in artistic gymnastics, Andrade will have to contend with a familiar foe in a returning Simone Biles, who won her fifth World all-around title in 2019 by a margin of 2.100.
Eyes will be on Andrade in Bahia for a preview of the coming battle with Biles. In recent weeks and months, the 24-year-old has shared several training videos with fans on social media that have shown an upgraded vault (Amanar), uneven bars dismount (double-double) and balance beam series (back handspring, layout stepout, layout stepout).
Fans will also have a keen look at Andrade’s floor exercise, which she has promised will be a departure from her beloved ‘Baile de Favela.’
Having grown up in the favelas of Sao Paulo, the music paid homage to her roots.
It was an instant classic for the gymnast.
“I think everyone really liked it and it was a song that suited me, that I would like to introduce myself with, I still like it and it will be very difficult for us to find a song that will be as successful as this one,” Andrade said of the routine. “But I hope that we will be able to find it.”
Andrade on Paris 2024 expectations
Andrade, along with coach Francisco Porath, have been cautious in the years following her third ACL tear. Picking and choosing when to compete and often opting out of the floor exercise.
In 2022, she only performed on the floor exercise twice prior to the worlds and even when she did, she opted for lesser difficulty. She has yet to compete in 2023, but has a busy second half of the year planned with the Worlds and Pan Am Games on her schedule.
"I talk a lot with my coach and we trust in each other. We always try to be really safe, and do floor in the correct moments. He believes in me. I'm never going to lie to not do it," said Andrade of her strategy. "So, when I really tell him that I can't do it, it's because I cannot and he always respects that.”
This approach seems to be working – and encompasses her approach to Paris 2024 and what would be a third trip to the Olympic Games.
“The main goal is to be healthy and happy,” Andrade says of Paris.