Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (born 8 May 1999)
is a Brazilian
artistic gymnast
Artistic gymnastics is a discipline of gymnastics in which athletes perform short routines on different apparatuses. The sport is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG), which designs the Code of Points and regulates ...
. She is the
2020 Olympic
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...
and
2021 World champion on the
vault
Vault may refer to:
* Jumping, the act of propelling oneself upwards
Architecture
* Vault (architecture), an arched form above an enclosed space
* Bank vault, a reinforced room or compartment where valuables are stored
* Burial vault (enclosure ...
and
2022 World all-around champion. Andrade is the first Brazilian female gymnast to medal at an
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
, and she is only the second Brazilian woman to win a gold medal at the
World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for artistic gymnastics governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The first edition of the championships was held in 1903, exclusively for male gymnas ...
. She is also the
2020 Olympic
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the List of Olympic Games h ...
silver medalist and the
2021 Pan American champion in the all-around, and won silver on the uneven bars at the
2021 World Championships
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...
and a bronze on the floor exercise at the
2022 World Championships. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2021 Pan American Championships and silver at the
2018 Pan American Championships. She has also won a total of six gold medals on the
FIG World Cup circuit.
Andrade is the
2012 Junior Pan American champion in the all-around and on vault and
floor exercise
In gymnastics, the floor is a specially prepared exercise surface, which is considered an apparatus. It is used by both male and female gymnasts. The gymnastics event performed on the floor is called floor exercise. The English abbreviation for t ...
. Additionally, she is the
2014 Junior Pan American champion on the vault, uneven bars, and
balance beam
The balance beam is a rectangular artistic gymnastics apparatus and an event performed using the apparatus. Both the apparatus and the event are sometimes simply referred to as "beam". The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring i ...
. After a successful junior career, Andrade's senior debut in 2015 was cut short by the first of three
ACL tears. She returned to competition and represented
Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Brazil was the host nation of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having competed in all editions in the modern era from 1920 onwards, except ...
where she placed eleventh in
the all-around final. She tore her ACL for the second time in 2017, but she made her World Championships debut in
2018
File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...
. After her third ACL tear in 2019, Andrade represented
Brazil at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Brazil competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Originally scheduled to take place from 24 July to 9 August 2020, the Games were postponed to 23 July to 8 August 2021, because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It was the nation's twenty-third appe ...
and at the 2021 World Championships where she won the vault gold medal at both events.
Early life and background
Rebeca Andrade was born on 8 May 1999 in
Guarulhos
Guarulhos () is a Brazilian municipality. It is the second most populous city in the Brazilian state of São Paulo, the 13th most populous city in Brazil, and is also the most populous city in the country that is not a state capital. In the last ...
. She is one of eight children of a single mother, Rosa. Her mother cleaned houses and walked to work in order to pay for Rebeca's gymnastics training.
She began gymnastics when she was four years old after her aunt took her to the gym where she worked.
When she was nine years old she moved to train in
Curitiba
Curitiba () is the capital and largest city in the state of Paraná (state), Paraná in Brazil. The city's population was 1,948,626 , making it the List of cities in Brazil by population, eighth most populous city in Brazil and the largest in ...
, and a year later she moved to
Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro ( , , ; literally 'River of January'), or simply Rio, is the capital of the state of the same name, Brazil's third-most populous state, and the second-most populous city in Brazil, after São Paulo. Listed by the GaWC as a b ...
to train at
Flamengo
Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; English: ''Flamengo Rowing Club''), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea, best known for their professional football t ...
. She speaks both Portuguese and English, and she is
Afro-Brazilian
Afro-Brazilians ( pt, afro-brasileiros; ) are Brazilians who have predominantly African ancestry (see "Black people#Brazil, preto"). Most members of another group of people, Pardo Brazilians, multiracial Brazilians or ''pardos'', may also have a ...
.
Junior career
2012
Andrade made her international debut when she was thirteen years old at the
Junior Pan American Championships. She helped Brazil win the team silver medal behind Canada and ahead of Mexico. Individually, she won the gold medal in the all-around, on vault, and on the floor exercise, and she won the bronze medal on the balance beam. Then at the Junior South American Championships in
Cochabamba
Cochabamba ( ay, Quchapampa; qu, Quchapampa) is a city and municipality in central Bolivia in a valley in the Andes mountain range. It is the capital of the Cochabamba Department and the fourth largest city in Bolivia, with a population of 63 ...
, she placed first with the Brazilian team as well as in the individual all-around. She also competed at the Brazil Trophy, a domestic competition for both juniors and seniors, where she edged out Olympians including
Jade Barbosa
Jade Fernandes Barbosa (born July 1, 1991) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time bronze medalist at the World Championships, and represented Brazil at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Gymnastics career
Barbosa was the Brazilian ...
and
Daniele Hypólito
Daniele Matias Hypólito (born 8 September 1984) is a Brazilian gymnast who competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games. Hypólito is the first gymnast from Brazil to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver in fl ...
to claim the all-around title.
2013
Andrade continued her success at the junior level in 2013. She began her 2013 season at the
Nadia Comăneci
Nadia Elena Comăneci Conner (born November 12, 1961) is a Romanian retired gymnast and a five-time Olympic gold medalist, all in individual events. In 1976, at the age of 14, Comăneci was the first gymnast to be awarded a perfect score of 10. ...
Invitational in
Oklahoma City
Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat of Oklahoma County, it ranks 20th among United States cities in population, a ...
, and she won the gold medal in the junior all-around. In August, she competed at her second Junior South American Championships, and the Brazilian team won the gold medal. Individually, Andrade won the bronze medal in the all-around behind teammates
Lorrane Oliveira
Lorrane dos Santos Oliveira (born April 13, 1998) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and represented Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Oliveira took up gymnastics in São Paulo
...
and
Flávia Saraiva
Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born September 30, 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was part of the te ...
. She also won the gold medal on vault and
uneven bars
The uneven bars or asymmetric bars is an artistic gymnastics apparatus. It is made of a steel frame. The bars are made of fiberglass with wood coating, or less commonly wood. The English abbreviation for the event in gymnastics scoring is UB or ...
and the silver medal on the balance beam behind Saraiva. In November, she competed at the
Gymnasiade
The Gymnasiade, or World Gymnasiade, or World School Sport Games, or ISF World School Sport Games is an international multi-sport event which is organised by the International School Sport Federation (ISF). It is the largest event among many o ...
, which were held in
Brasília
Brasília (; ) is the federal capital of Brazil and seat of government of the Federal District. The city is located at the top of the Brazilian highlands in the country's Central-West region. It was founded by President Juscelino Kubitsche ...
. The Brazilian team won the silver medal behind Russia, and Andrade won the bronze medal in the all-around behind
Alla Sosnitskaya
Alla Arkadievna Sosnitskaya (russian: Алла Аркадьевна Сосницкая, born 10 April 1997) is a Russian artistic gymnast. She won team bronze medals at the 2014 World and European Championships.
Career
Sosnitskaya is coached b ...
and Flávia Saraiva. In the event finals, she won the gold medal on vault and placed sixth on the floor exercise.
2014
In February, Andrade began the season by competing at the
WOGA Classic
The World Olympic Gymnastics Academy (WOGA) is a two-facility gymnastics club located in Frisco and Plano.
The head coaches at WOGA are former USA Gymnastics women's national team coordinator Valeri Liukin, who was a Soviet medalist at the 1 ...
in
Plano, Texas
Plano ( ) is a city in Collin County, Texas, Collin County and Denton County, Texas, United States. It had a population of 285,494 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is a principal city of the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex.
Hist ...
. She won the gold in the all-around, on vault, and on uneven bars, and she won the silver with the team, on balance beam, and floor exercise. She later competed at the
Junior Pan American Championships in
Aracaju
Aracaju () is the capital of the state of Sergipe, Brazil, located in the northeastern part of the country on the coast, about 350 km (217 mi) north of Salvador. According to the 2020 estimate, the city has 664,908 inhabitants, which re ...
where she helped team Brazil win the silver medal behind Canada. Individually, she won the silver in the all-around and on floor exercise both behind
Flávia Saraiva
Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born September 30, 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was part of the te ...
and the gold on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She was initially scheduled to represent
Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics
Brazil competes at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics, in Nanjing, China from 16 August to 28 August 2014.
Medalists
Medals awarded to participants of mixed-NOC (Combined) teams are represented in ''italics''. These medals are not counted towards the ...
in
Nanjing, China
Nanjing (; , Mandarin pronunciation: ), alternately romanized as Nanking, is the capital of Jiangsu province of the People's Republic of China. It is a sub-provincial city, a megacity, and the second largest city in the East China region. T ...
. However, she withdrew due to a broken toe and was replaced by teammate
Flávia Saraiva
Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born September 30, 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was part of the te ...
. Andrade did not compete for the rest of the 2014 season.
Senior career
2015
Andrade became
age-eligible for senior international competitions in 2015. She recovered from her toe injury and made her senior international debut at the
Ljubljana World Cup where she won the bronze medal on the uneven bars behind
Isabela Onyshko
Isabela Maria Onyshko (born 23 June 1998 in Minnedosa) is a Canadian artistic gymnast who represented her country at the 2016 Summer Olympics, the 2014 Commonwealth Games, as well as the 2014, 2015 and 2017 World Championships. She was the ...
and
Jonna Adlerteg
Jonna Eva-Maj Adlerteg (born 6 June 1995) is a Swedish gymnast. She won the bronze medal on bars at the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in Singapore. Adlerteg competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, becoming ...
. She then went to the São Paulo World Cup and won the silver medal on vault behind
Deng Yalan
Deng Yalan (; born April 24 in Yunnan) is an elite Chinese gymnast. As of 2014, she represents the Guangxi province in domestic competition. Her best event is vault.
Junior career
In 2013, Deng won bronze on vault at the Chinese National Champi ...
; she placed seventh on the uneven bars. She then went to the Flanders International Team Challenge in
Ghent
Ghent ( nl, Gent ; french: Gand ; traditional English: Gaunt) is a city and a municipality in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It is the capital and largest city of the East Flanders province, and the third largest in the country, exceeded in ...
where a mixed team of Brazilian and Italian gymnasts won the bronze medal. In the all-around, she won the silver medal behind Flavia Saraiva. In June, Andrade
tore her ACL which caused her to miss her most important competitions of the season – the Pan American Games and the World Championships.
2016
In 2016, Andrade returned to competition after her ACL injury and won five medals on the
World Cup circuit and also competed at her first
Olympic Games
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a var ...
. She returned at the
City of Jesolo Trophy The City of Jesolo Trophy is an annual women's gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. There are competitions for the senior division and junior division. The United States won the senior team competition every year from 2010 to 2017. . She only competed on the vault, uneven bars, and balance beam and helped the Brazilian team win the silver medal behind the United States. She qualified for the uneven bars event final where she finished eighth. She then competed at the
Doha World Cup and won the silver medal on the uneven bars behind Jonna Adlerteg.
She was selected to compete at the
Olympic Test Event alongside
Jade Barbosa
Jade Fernandes Barbosa (born July 1, 1991) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She is a two-time bronze medalist at the World Championships, and represented Brazil at the 2008 and 2016 Summer Olympics.
Gymnastics career
Barbosa was the Brazilian ...
,
Daniele Hypólito
Daniele Matias Hypólito (born 8 September 1984) is a Brazilian gymnast who competed at the 2000, 2004, 2008, 2012 and the 2016 Olympic Games. Hypólito is the first gymnast from Brazil to win a medal at the World Championships, a silver in fl ...
,
Lorrane Oliveira
Lorrane dos Santos Oliveira (born April 13, 1998) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and represented Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Oliveira took up gymnastics in São Paulo
...
,
Carolyne Pedro
Carolyne Mercer Winche Pedro (born 6 July 2000) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the national team. She participated in the 2019 Pan American Games.
Career
Pedro took part at the 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event helping the ...
, and Flavia Saraiva to attempt to qualify Brazil
a team quota for the Olympic Games. Andrade competed on vault and uneven bars only, and she performed a double-twisting
Yurchenko vault and a clean uneven bars routine. The Brazilian team won the gold medal in the team event and qualified a full team to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Individually, she qualified for the uneven bars final, where she won the bronze medal behind Germans
Elisabeth Seitz and
Sophie Scheder
Sophie Celina Scheder (born 7 January 1997) is a German artistic gymnast. She is the 2016 Olympic bronze medalist on the uneven bars.
Senior career 2013
Scheder competed at the 2013 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, where she finished 5t ...
.
She then competed at the São Paulo World Cup, where she qualified for the uneven bars and balance beam finals. In the uneven bars final, she tied with German
Kim Bui for the silver medal. The next day on the balance beam, she won the bronze medal behind teammate Daniele Hypólito and
Simona Castro. She then went to the Anadia World Cup where she won two silver medals on balance beam and floor exercise, both behind teammate Flavia Saraiva.
After the Anadia World Cup, Andrade was named to represent
Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Brazil was the host nation of the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro from 5 to 21 August 2016. This was the nation's twenty-second appearance at the Summer Olympics, having competed in all editions in the modern era from 1920 onwards, except ...
alongside Jade Barbosa, Daniele Hypólito, Lorrane Oliveira, and Flavia Saraiva. Her final competition in preparation for the Olympics was a friendly meet in the Netherlands on 10 July where she tied with Dutch gymnast
Eythora Thorsdottir for the gold medal in the all-around.
At the
2016 Olympics
)
, nations = 207 (including IOA and EOR teams)
, athletes = 11,238
, events = 306 in 28 sports (41 disciplines)
, opening = 5 August 2016
, closing = 21 August 2016
, opened_by = Vice President Michel Temer
, cauldron = Vanderlei Cordeiro ...
, Andrade performed well in
the qualification round, and helped Brazil qualify for the team finals in fifth place. She qualified individually to the all-around final in third place with a total score of 58.732 behind American gymnasts
Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
and
Aly Raisman
Alexandra Rose Raisman (born May 25, 1994) is a retired American artistic gymnast and two-time Olympian. She was captain of both the 2012 "Fierce Five" and 2016 " Final Five" U.S. women's Olympic gymnastics teams, which won their respective tea ...
. During
the team finals, Andrade fell on the floor exercise, and the Brazilian team finished eighth. In
the individual all-around, she finished eleventh with a total score of 56.965.
After the Olympics, Andrade competed at the Brazilian Championships in November. She won the gold medal with the Flamengo club team, in the all-around, on the uneven bars, and on the balance beam. She won the silver medal on the floor exercise behind
Thais Fidelis.
2017
Andrade won three World Cup medals in 2017, but she also endured two different injuries. She began her season at the
City of Jesolo Trophy The City of Jesolo Trophy is an annual women's gymnastics competition held in Jesolo, Italy. There are competitions for the senior division and junior division. The United States won the senior team competition every year from 2010 to 2017. at which the Brazilian team won the silver medal behind the United States. Andrade won the silver medal in the all-around behind American gymnast
Riley McCusker
Riley Shannon McCusker (born July 9, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast and a six-time member of the United States women's national gymnastics team (2016–2021). She is the 2019 Pan American Games and 2017 United States national uneven ba ...
. In the event finals, she finished fifth on the uneven bars, sixth on the balance beam, and fourth on the floor exercise. She then competed at the
Koper Challenge Cup and won the gold medal on vault. Then at the Osijek Challenge Cup, she only competed on the uneven bars but did not qualify for the event final.
In May, Andrade injured her ankle during training and had to wear a protective boot for two months.
She returned to competition in August at the Brazilian Championships where she only competed on the uneven bars and won the gold medal. She then competed at the Varna Challenge Cup and won the gold medal on both the vault and the uneven bars.
Andrade was initially named to the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
team along with first-year senior Thais Fidelis; however, she tore her ACL for a second time during the warmups for podium training and withdrew.
2018–19
Andrade competed at her first
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in 2018 after returning from her second ACL tear but only was able to compete for a little less than a year before tearing her ACL for the third time. She returned to competition in September 2018 at the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
. She only competed on two events, the vault and uneven bars, and she helped the Brazilian team win the silver medal behind the United States. She was then named to the Brazilian team for the
2018 World Championships alongside Jade Barbosa, Thais Fidelis, Lorrane Oliveira, and Flavia Saraiva. Andrade made her World Championships debut and competed on the vault, uneven bars, and balance beam, and Brazil qualified for the team final in fifth place. In the team final, the Brazilian team finished seventh after Andrade, Barbosa, and Saraiva all fell on the uneven bars. After the World Championships, Andrade competed at the
2018 Cottbus World Cup where she won the gold medal on vault and balance beam and the silver medal on uneven bars behind
Nina Derwael
Nina Derwael ( or ; born 26 March 2000) is a Belgians, Belgian artistic gymnast. She is the Gymnastics at the 2020 Summer Olympics, 2020 Olympic champion, a two-time World champion (2018 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2018, 2019 World ...
.
Andrade only competed once in 2019; at the DTB Team Challenge in
Stuttgart
Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...
, she helped the Brazilian team win team gold, and she won the all-around gold medal. At the Brazilian Championships, Andrade tore her ACL for the third time in her career. This ended her 2019 season and caused her to miss the
2019 World Championships.
At the World Championships, the Brazilian team without Andrade finished fourteenth and did not
qualify a team for the
2020 Olympic Games
The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July.
Tokyo was selected as the host city during the 1 ...
.
2020
Andrade's comeback was cut short by the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
. She returned to competition at the
Baku World Cup where she finished third on uneven bars behind
Fan Yilin
Fan Yilin (; born 11 November 1999) is a Chinese artistic gymnast and uneven bars specialist. She is a two-time world champion on the uneven bars (2015, 2017) and the 2015 Asian champion on balance beam. At the 2015 World Championships, she was ...
and
Anastasia Ilyankova
Anastasia Andreyevna Ilyankova ( rus, Анастасия Андреевна Ильянкова, , ɐnəstɐˈsʲiɪ̯ə ɪlʲɪ̯ɪnˈkovə, born 12 January 2001) is a Russian artistic gymnast. She is the 2020 Olympic silver medalist and 2019 ...
and second on balance beam behind
Urara Ashikawa during qualifications and therefore qualified to the event finals. However, the event finals were canceled due to the
pandemic in Azerbaijan.
In July, Andrade and numerous other
Brazilian Olympic hopefuls traveled to Portugal as they were unable to resume training due to the
pandemic in Brazil remaining unstable and gyms remaining closed. In December 2020, she tested positive for
COVID-19
Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
but was
asymptomatic
In medicine, any disease is classified asymptomatic if a patient tests as carrier for a disease or infection but experiences no symptoms. Whenever a medical condition fails to show noticeable symptoms after a diagnosis it might be considered asy ...
.
2021
Andrade had a breakthrough year in 2021 and won her first Olympic and World medals.
She returned to competition at the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
which offered her a chance to
qualify for the Olympic Games as an individual. The Brazilian team of Andrade,
Christal Bezerra
Christal Silva e Bezerra (born 21 August 2004) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national team. She competed at the 2019 Junior World Championships, and was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2021 Pan Ameri ...
,
Ana Luiza Lima
Ana Luiza Pires Lima (born 8 August 2005) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national gymnastics team. Lima represented her country at the 2019 Junior World Championships. She made her international senior debut at th ...
, Lorrane Oliveira, and
Júlia Soares
Júlia das Neves Botega Soares (born 23 August, 2005) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national gymnastics team. Soares represented her country at the 2019 Junior World Championships, where she was a finalist on the ...
won the gold medal. Individually, Andrade won the gold medal in the all-around with a total score of 56.700. This result earned her and
Luciana Alvarado the continental quota spots for the 2020 Olympic Games.
In
the qualification round, Andrade qualified in third place to the vault final, fourth to floor exercise final, and second to the all-around final. Following
Simone Biles
Simone Arianne Biles (; born March 14, 1997) is an American artistic gymnast. Her seven Olympic medals tied with Shannon Miller for the most Olympic medals won by an American gymnast. Having won 25 World Championship medals, she is the most de ...
’ withdrawal, Andrade entered
the all-around final as the top qualifier. After leading the competition in the first two rotations of the all-around final, Andrade won silver in the all-around after stepping out of bounds on two of her floor exercise tumbling passes. This was the first-ever Olympic medal for a female Brazilian gymnast.
Setting another record for her country, she won the gold medal in
the vault final with an average score of 15.083. This made her the first Olympic champion in Brazilian women's artistic gymnastics history.
In the
floor final, Andrade placed fifth with a score of 14.033 after stepping out of bounds on two of her tumbling passes. Reflecting on her success at the Games, Andrade told reporters, "
is is not only for me but for the whole of Brazil. I want to inspire younger kids with my achievements... It's not just the medals. I made everybody proud of me."
She was chosen to be the
flag bearer
A standard-bearer, also known as a flag-bearer is a person (soldier or civilian) who bears an emblem known as a standard or military colours, i.e. either a type of flag or an inflexible but mobile image, which is used (and often honoured) as a f ...
for Brazil at the
closing ceremony
An opening ceremony, grand opening, or ribbon-cutting ceremony marks the official opening of a newly-constructed location or the start of an event. .
Andrade continued training after the Olympic Games. At the Brazilian Championships, she helped her club win the team gold medal. She also won the gold medal in the all-around. At the
World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in
Kitakyushu
is a Cities of Japan, city located in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. As of June 1, 2019, Kitakyushu has an estimated population of 940,978, making it the second-largest city in both Fukuoka Prefecture and the island of Kyushu after the city of Fuku ...
, she competed on the vault, uneven bars, and balance beam. She chose not to compete on the floor exercise in order to preserve her health. She qualified for all three event finals. She finished first on both the vault with an average score of 14.800 and on the uneven bars with a score of 15.100, and she finished eighth on the balance beam. She became the first Brazilian gymnast to ever qualify for a World uneven bars event final.
In the vault final, she won the gold medal with an average score of 14.966, nearly a full point ahead of silver medalist
Asia D'Amato
Asia D'Amato () (born 7 February 2003) is an Italian artistic gymnast. She represented Italy at the 2020 Olympic Games. She was a member of the teams that won bronze at the 2019 World Championships and gold at the 2022 European Championships. ...
. This was Brazil's second women's gold medal at the
World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
The Artistic Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for artistic gymnastics governed by the Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG). The first edition of the championships was held in 1903, exclusively for male gymnas ...
, the first being
Daiane dos Santos's gold medal on the floor exercise in
2003
File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...
.
Then in the uneven bars final, she scored a 14.633 and won the silver medal behind Chinese gymnast
Wei Xiaoyuan
Wei Xiaoyuan ( zh, 韦筱圆, born August 25, 2004) is a Chinese artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is best known for her work on the uneven bars, where she is a two-time world champion (2021 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 202 ...
becoming the first Brazilian gymnast to win a World medal on the uneven bars.
On the next day, she finished sixth in the balance beam event final, tying the best-ever finish of a Brazilian woman in this event with
Flávia Saraiva
Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born September 30, 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was part of the te ...
in
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
.
2022
Andrade began her 2022 season in May at the Trophy Brazil, where she won the gold medal on the uneven bars and the silver on the balance beam.
In July, Andrade was named to the Brazilian team for the
Pan American Championships A Pan American Championship is a top level international sports competition between athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs in the Americas. Typically these championships are recurring, the most ...
alongside
Flávia Saraiva
Flávia Lopes Saraiva (born September 30, 1999) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She represented Brazil at the 2014 Summer Youth Olympics in Nanjing, the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio, and the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. She was part of the te ...
,
Christal Bezerra
Christal Silva e Bezerra (born 21 August 2004) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national team. She competed at the 2019 Junior World Championships, and was part of the gold medal-winning team at the 2021 Pan Ameri ...
,
Lorrane Oliveira
Lorrane dos Santos Oliveira (born April 13, 1998) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast. She competed at the 2015 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships and represented Brazil at the 2016 Summer Olympics.
Oliveira took up gymnastics in São Paulo
...
,
Carolyne Pedro
Carolyne Mercer Winche Pedro (born 6 July 2000) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the national team. She participated in the 2019 Pan American Games.
Career
Pedro took part at the 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Test Event helping the ...
and
Júlia Soares
Júlia das Neves Botega Soares (born 23 August, 2005) is a Brazilian artistic gymnast and a member of the Brazilian national gymnastics team. Soares represented her country at the 2019 Junior World Championships, where she was a finalist on the ...
. On the first day of competition, which determined the all-around and apparatus results, Andrade won the gold medal on the uneven bars as well as the silver medal on the balance beam behind Saraiva. Additionally, she helped Brazil qualify to the team final in first place. She opted not to compete on floor exercise. In the team final, Andrade contributed scores on vault, uneven bars and balance beam towards Brazil's first-place finish ahead of the United States and Canada — their first victory over the United States at the competition since 1997.
Andrade stated that "This win is very big for the future of gymnastics
n Brazil
N, or n, is the fourteenth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''en'' (pronounced ), plural ''ens''.
History
...
for the girls that are coming up and the ones who came before us."
[
In August, Andrade competed at the Brazilian Championships, where she won the all-around ahead of Saraiva and Soares, and also received the highest scores on vault, uneven bars and balance beam, as well as the second highest on floor exercise, despite performing watered-down routines. In September Andrade competed at the Paris World Challenge Cup; she only competed on the uneven bars. She won silver behind American ]Shilese Jones
Shilese Jones (born July 26, 2002) is an American artistic gymnast. She was a member of the teams that won gold at the 2022 World Artistic Gymnastics Championships, 2022 World Championships and the 2018 Pan American Gymnastics Championships, 201 ...
.
In October, Andrade was named to the team to compete at the World Championships
A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...
in Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...
alongside Saraiva, Soares, Oliveira, Pedro and Bezerra. In the qualification round, Andrade qualified in first place to the all-around final, second to the floor final, third to the uneven bars final, seventh to the beam final, and helped Brazil qualify to the team final in third place. On vault, she scored 15.066 for her first vault, a Cheng, however her hands slipped on the table during her second vault attempt, performing just a Yurchenko back tuck instead of her intended double twist. Her second vault scored 11.466, putting her outside the final. In the team final, Brazil finished fourth behind the United States, Great Britain and Canada. In the all-around final, Andrade won the gold medal ahead of Shilese Jones and Jessica Gadirova with a score of 56.899, becoming the first South American gymnast to win a World all-around title. Andrade then won the bronze medal in the floor exercise final alongside Jade Carey
Jade Ashtyn Carey (born May 27, 2000) is an American artistic gymnast who represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. Best known for her abilities on vault and floor exercise, she is the 2020 Olympic champion on floor e ...
, finishing behind Jessica Gadirova and Jordan Chiles
Jordan Lucella Elizabeth Chiles (born April 15, 2001) is an American artistic gymnast. She represented the United States at the 2020 Summer Olympics and won a silver medal in the team event. She was a member of the team that won gold at the 2 ...
, who finished in first and second place respectively.
Personal life
Andrade became extremely popular in Brazil after her success at the 2020 Olympic Games. In October 2021, she appeared on the cover of '' Vogue Brasil''. She was also awarded the Brazil Olympic Prize which recognized her as the best Brazilian female athlete of the year.
Andrade has worked with a psychologist
A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and interpretation of how indi ...
on visualization techniques. She underwent three ACL reconstruction surgeries, all on her right knee. The gymnast she looks up to the most is Brazilian World Champion Daiane dos Santos
Daiane Garcia dos Santos (born February 10, 1983) is a retired Artistic gymnastics, artistic gymnast. She is the 2003 world champion on the floor apparatus. On doing so, she became the first black gymnast to ever win an event at the World Champio ...
.
Competitive history
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Andrade, Rebeca
1999 births
Living people
People from Guarulhos
Brazilian female artistic gymnasts
Olympic gymnasts of Brazil
Gymnasts at the 2016 Summer Olympics
Gymnasts at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Medalists at the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships
Olympic gold medalists for Brazil
Olympic silver medalists for Brazil
Olympic medalists in gymnastics
World champion gymnasts
Sportspeople from São Paulo (state)
21st-century Brazilian women