Rebeca Andrade on career after Paris: "I don't know, it's going to depend on my body."

Tokyo 2020 Olympic vault champion Rebeca Andrade isn’t shutting the door on continuing her career in artistic gymnastics after this summer’s 2024 Olympic Games in Paris.

“I don’t know,” she said in a recent interview with Brazilian Marie Claire. “It’s going to depend on my body.”

Andrade, who appears on the cover of the February issue of the magazine, recounted a moment from the 2023 World Championships in Antwerp, Belgium, where Simone 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. “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.”

The Brazilian superstar also recalled a moment with Biles from the 2018 Worlds where the American encouraged Andrade, who was at the time returning to form after her second of three ACL tears, to continue with the sport.

“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.”

#1 Oklahoma and #2 California set for meeting in week five

It will be a clash of the titans in women’s NCAA gymnastics with the top-ranked, defending NCAA champions Oklahoma set to meet a surging University of California at Berkeley squad that finds itself currently ranked second.

They’ll be joined by No. 23 Arizona State in a tri-meet hosted by the Sun Devils.

Oklahoma has looked smooth and steady in the opening weeks of the collegiate season, showing the form that has made them a dynasty in recent years. 

They enter week five’s big match up coming off a – by their incredibly high standards – shaky performance against Denver. Though they still netted a massive 197.775 team score, it was their low mark of the season.

"I think it was the first time that we were behind this season and they didn't give up, they kept pushing their way forward and it wasn't easy," head coach K.J. Kindler said, according to SoonerSports.com. "There's a lot of little things and details I think we left out today overall. For us the lesson was, we fight back, you keep fighting, you don't give up no matter what."

The Bears are fresh off their season high – a 197.950 at home against Oregon State University – as the squad rides a newfound belief their ability.

“We have the results, we have the receipts, we have all the accolades to prove that we are such an amazing team,” Cal junior Mya Lauzon, the nation’s top-ranked all-arounder, told Olympics.com “As much as the other teams, we deserve to be up there, too. 

“I think finally this season, we've come to the conclusion that, you know what? We have the confidence that it takes to get where we are, and it's really just been showing for itself,” she concluded.

The Oklahoma, Cal and Arizona State tri-meet is scheduled for Friday (2 February) at 9pm ET.

From the vault…

This week, we take a look back at Team People’s Republic of China on the uneven bars and balance beam during the women’s team final at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Lin Li and Zhang Nan earned the highest scores for the squad, which finished in seventh, on the uneven bars and balance beam, respectively.