Rebeca Andrade during the 2022 Gymnastics World Championships. Photo: Tim Clayton/Corbis via Getty Images
Brazil’s golden girl is perhaps the best label for Rebeca Andrade, multiple champion in gymnastics. 2022 is defined as an epic year, confirming the talent of a young 23-year-old from Sao Paulo. The Flamengo athlete showed what she came to at the last World Cup, winning two medals, gold and bronze.
In an exclusive interview with Yahoo Esportes, Rebeca spoke about the nuances of a magical moment in her career, going behind the scenes at the World Championships recently held in Liverpool, England, her road to gymnastics stardom, and the polarization controversy between presidential candidates Lula. (PT) and Bolsonaro (PL).
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The gymnast would have liked publications against President-elect Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva. Following the aftermath of the Bolsonarist label, influencer Felipe Neto came to the gymnast’s defense and stressed: “She is not a minion.” Rebeca subsequently publicly denied the alleged allegations.
“Guys, I just saw some comments on posts I liked on Instagram over the past few weeks and I came here to explain the situation. I really appreciate my principles and what I believe in as a black woman, a woman citizen. I liked some posts without even reading their content, as it can happen to anyone, ”he emphasizes.
POLITICAL POSITION
“Well, my point of view is related to public policy, such as education, sports, health care, and something happened there that could happen to anyone else. So, first of all, I put what I considered necessary to put at that moment, so that there would be no misunderstanding. That’s all”.
“The word that sums up my speech, I think, is gratitude. Because when I got to this podium both in the individual medal and in the ground, I was so grateful and so happy. By winning once again, being on the podium, singing the Brazilian anthem at such a big and important competition,” highlights a symbolic moment in his career.
Per Rebecamore than results, conquests, overcoming led to a path full of fruits
“The biggest challenge of my career has been surgeries. These were the biggest tests, because it was not only a physical test, but also a mental one. It was tense, but I managed to get through and everything went well.”
LIVERPOOL BACKSTAGE
“Listen, I think being a specialist is very difficult. But even if you do it on all devices, it’s also difficult because you have to do them all on that day. But being an expert is also difficult because you only have one device. Example: a person has all the devices, if you do badly, you jump, you make a mistake, in parallel there is still a chance to be saved on earth, that’s what happened to me in the world. My parallel was not very good in this world. But my beam and solo note covered my parallel. I think that when you are a specialist, making only one device, there is no way to cover your rank. If you’re not doing well, you only have this chance there. So I think being a specialist is harder than doing it individually. The general individual is much more tedious and complicated. What stood out the most in this world for me was the overall individual medal, because that’s what conveyed the incredible feeling I had at that time.”
“I don’t see that much pressure in it. It’s really cool to be the favorite, but in my head I always go the same way to do my best, be happy and walk out of the room happy with everything I’ve done during my presentations. I think that will always be my goal, because if I keep thinking about what people expect, what they want, what they talk about, I don’t know if I can focus. Do your part in the gym and focus on what I have to do. I will think that I should win, be the favorite and all that. With this, I won’t be able to show my best performance. So I think this is not where I should be thinking. It’s pretty clear in my mind. I don’t see it as a kind of pressure. During the competition, anything can happen, whether the favorite or not. So what does it mean to do your best and leave happy, you know!? Be happy and leave happy!”
PREPARATION FOR PEACE
“Well, the preparation for the World Cup was like the Olympics. We often trained in full force. There were more days on earth, I had to prepare a lot, do a lot of physical training, go to the gym to keep my body strong, always very strong. Well, because of injuries, I always have to be very prepared for whatever comes up. I became even more careful with my diet and continued the same process, and my psychologist in the gym did the best gymnastics that I was capable of, always respecting myself. Once I arrived very tired or in great pain, I talked to my coach, whose name is Francisco, and he understood that it was impossible to work that day, and respected me. On the day I arrived well, I did everything I could there at the time. So my preparation was like that, I had a lot of respect for myself and was always ready to do my best.”
“I always believed because that was what I really wanted, I really wanted to get my Olympic medals, world medals, Pan American medals. The opportunity to travel and discover new places, cultures and the like. So I can say that when I was very young, I really believed that I could reach the top.”
