Rounding Off: Rebeca Andrade featured on the cover of Brazilian Vogue
Plus, Svetlana Khorkina will serve as world championships ambassador, gymnastics headed to Netflix and a look back at Romania from Athens 2004.
Artistic Gymnastics
Brazilian gymnast Rebeca Andrade, who won all-around silver and vault gold at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, finds herself on the cover of Brazilian Vogue this month.
“I am so happy about this,” Andrade said Wednesday on her Instagram story. “It was such a big secret to keep.”
The 22-year-old has been non-stop since winning her country’s first medals in women’s gymnastics at the Olympic Games. This week, she’s looking for more success at the 2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Kitakyushu, Japan.
Andrade has missed two of the last three worlds with ACL injuries. In Kitakyushu, she’ll be the favourite for the vault title and a possible medal on the uneven bars.
Svetlana Khorkina named ambassador to Worlds
Two-time Olympic uneven bars champion Svetlana Khorkina will serve as an ambassador at the World Championships in Kitakyushu.
According to a report by TASS, Khorkina’s duties as ambassador include participating in medal ceremonies, fan activities such as photo and autograph sessions and interviews with the media.
Khorkina is one of the most decorated athletes at the world championships, three times winning the all-around title (1997, 2001, 2003) and five times claiming the global title on her signature event, the uneven bars.
Gymnastics headed for the small screen
‘Gymnastics Academy: A Second Chance!’ is in production for Netflix. The Australian based production will tell the story of a 14-year-old African American gymnast, Kyra Berry (played by Jada Lee Henry), whose Olympic dreams come into question after she injures her knee.
Berry then moves to Australia to work with a former world champion gymnast Maddie Cornell (Emily Morris).
The 10-part series is a spin-off based on Clay Glen’s 'Second Chance' franchise.
From the vault…
This week, we take a look back at the Romanian women’s team from Athens 2004. They delivered a masterful performance on the balance beam in the qualifying round, counting no score lower than 9.512. Catalina Ponor, who went on to win balance beam and floor exercise gold at the Games, led the team with a 9.775 score.