Rebeca Andrade is a Brazilian gymnast who has taken the world of gymnastics by storm in recent years. She is one of the most graceful and athletic performers in today's era. The 23-year-old made her Olympic debut in 2016, during which she missed out on an Olympic medal. Since then, she has upped her game to an elite level.
The Brazilian star has won two Olympic medals so far, one silver and one gold. She won both the medals at the delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics that took place in 2021 due to the pandemic. Rebeca won the silver in the all-around category and gold on the vault, thanks to her dazzling performance.
Andrade's Olympic career
In 2016, Andrade was selected to compete in the Olympic Test Event for the Rio Olympics. Thanks to her performance on the vault, Brazil managed to get a team through to the Olympic games. Making her Olympic debut in her hometown, she performed exceptionally well individually and helped Brazil qualify for the finals in fifth place. She also managed to qualify for the all-around finals in third place behind Simone Biles and Aly Raisman. Andrade fell short along with Brazil and she finished 11th in both the finals.
In 2021, Andrade really came unto her own. She qualified in first place for the all-around finals at the Tokyo Olympics after Biles' withdrawal. In the finals, she won a silver medal, behind Sunisa Lee of the United States, marking Brazil's first Olympic medal in female gymnastics.
Later on at the Olympics, she etched her name in the history books by winning gold for Brazil with an average score of 15.083 in the vault final ahead of United States' MyKayla Skinner and South Korea's Yeo Seo-jeong, who finished second and third, respectively.
Rebeca Andrade's career outside the Olympics
The Brazilian gymnast really had an impactful 2021. She started the year off by winning two gold medals at the Pan American Championships in the team and all-around categories. After the Olympics, she continued training and made it to the world championships in Kitakyushu, where she won gold on the vault and silver on the uneven bars, marking her first two medals at the Worlds.
At the 2022 Pan American Championships in Rio, she won two golds, one as part of the Brazilian team and one on the uneven bars, and topped it off with a silver medal on the balance beam.
Going into the 2022 Liverpool World Championships, Andrade was one of the favorites to win the all-around event. She lived up to expectations and took the gold medal at the event. She finished the 2022 Worlds with a bronze medal on the floor after a mesmerizing performance.
The future
Andrade remains one of the most promising prospects going into 2023. She has a versatile set of skills in the sport of artistic gymnastics with her ability to perform in a wide range of categories.
She is one athlete to definitely look out for at the 2024 paris Olympics!