"She didn't cut off my wings" - Rebeca Andrade makes her feelings known about her mother's impact in her gymnastics endeavors

Brazilian artistic gymnast Rebeca Andrade recently revealed that her mother Rosa Santos didn't stop her from dreaming big when she decided to move out alone at the age of 10. She also shared that her mother had been the biggest support system in her life.

Andrade and her siblings were raised by their single mother. At a very young age, the Brazilian Olympian recognized her flair for gymnastics, which her mother supported by working odd jobs in people's houses. Andrade started training at four, moved to Curitiba at nine, and then to Rio to join Flamengo.

Arguably the most formidable Brazilian gymnast today, Rebeca Andrade recently lauded her mother for always supporting her endeavors, even siding with her decision to leave the house at age 10 for gymnastics. Andrade also shared that she had an 'incredible' childhood because her mother never let the hardship affect her children while raising them.

She said (via BBC World Service YouTube channel):

"I think that I was always had everything I needed to live well, which was love. The support of my family, the impetus my mum gave me to follow my dream too. It's just that my mom is a very positive person. She didn't see hardship as suffering, so we didn't see it that way either. If we were together, she always found a way to work things together. So for me, my childhood was incredible." (5:02)

The 25-year-old further talked about leaving the house at 10 to follow her gymnastics dreams. Though it was emotionally difficult for Rosa, she never came into her daughter's way of pursuing gymnastics. Andrade added:

"For a mom, having to hear comments like that about her children, couldn't have been easy at all. But I'm grateful she didn't cut off my wings. She was the person who gave me the most impetus to fly. For me to follow my dream with my own legs, my goals but always being there when I needed her." (5:41)

Rebeca Andrade's mother took pride in her daughter after she walked home from the Paris Games with a bag of medals

Rebeca Andrade competing at the Olympic Games-Paris 2024 - (Source: Getty)

Rebeca Andrade won the gold medal in the floor exercise, silver in the team and all-around competition, and bronze in the vault at the 2024 Paris Games. Following that, she sat for an interview alongside her mother and expressed joy at her medal-winning performances. Moreover, her mother took pride in her daughter's achievements and said (via journalist Fátima Bernardes' YouTube channel):

"I dreamed of her at the Olympics, right? And it was already really good and suddenly with your lap full of medals, it became much better.”

Rebeca Andrade became one of the fiercest rivals of Simone Biles, as they were toe-to-toe throughout the competition days in Paris. They even finished neck-to-neck at the 2023 World Championships.