Rebeca Andrade facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Rebeca Andrade
Andrade at the 2023 Artistic Gymnastics World Cup in Paris
Personal information
Full name	Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade
Nickname(s)	"Rebe"
Country represented	Brazil
Born	(1999-05-08) 8 May 1999 (age 26) Guarulhos, São Paulo, Brazil
Height	151 cm (4 ft 11 in)
Discipline	Women's artistic gymnastics
Years on national team	2012–present
Club	Clube de Regatas do Flamengo
Head coach(es)	Francisco Porath
Former coach(es)	Keli Tiemi Kitaura, Alexander Alexandrov, Valery Liukin
Music	2013: "Sway" 2014–2016: "Crazy in Love" and "Single Ladies" 2019–2022: "Toccata and Fugue in D minor, BWV 565" and "Baile de Favela" 2023–present: "End of Time", "Movimento da Sanfoninha" and "Baile de Favela"
Medal record Representing  Brazil Women's artistic gymnastics Event 1st 2nd 3rd Olympic Games 2 3 1 World Championships 3 4 2 Pan American Games 2 2 0 Pan American Championships 4 2 0 Olympic Games Gold 2020 Tokyo Vault Gold 2024 Paris Floor exercise Silver 2020 Tokyo All-around Silver 2024 Paris All-around Silver 2024 Paris Vault Bronze 2024 Paris Team World Championships Gold 2021 Kitakyushu Vault Gold 2022 Liverpool All-around Gold 2023 Antwerp Vault Silver 2021 Kitakyushu Uneven bars Silver 2023 Antwerp All-around Silver 2023 Antwerp Floor exercise Silver 2023 Antwerp Team Bronze 2022 Liverpool Floor exercise Bronze 2023 Antwerp Balance beam Pan American Games Gold 2023 Santiago Vault Gold 2023 Santiago Balance beam Silver 2023 Santiago Team Silver 2023 Santiago Uneven bars Pan American Championships Gold 2021 Rio de Janeiro Team Gold 2021 Rio de Janeiro All-around Gold 2022 Rio de Janeiro Team Gold 2022 Rio de Janeiro Uneven bars Silver 2018 Lima Team Silver 2022 Rio de Janeiro Balance beam FIG World Cup Event 1st 2nd 3rd World Cup 3 1 1 World Challenge Cup 3 7 2

Rebeca Rodrigues de Andrade (born May 8, 1999) is an amazing Brazilian gymnast. She has won many medals at the Olympic Games and World Championships. In fact, she is the most decorated Brazilian gymnast ever! She is also the most decorated Brazilian Olympian in any sport.

Rebeca has won gold medals on vault at the 2020 Olympics and 2021 and 2023 World Championships. She also won gold on floor exercise at the 2024 Olympics. She was the World Champion in the all-around in 2022. She helped the Brazilian team win their first team medals at the World Championships (silver in 2023) and the Olympics (bronze in 2024).

Rebeca is the first Brazilian female gymnast to win an Olympic medal. She is also one of only 11 female gymnasts in history to win a medal on every event at the World Championships. This shows how talented and versatile she is!

Rebeca had a very successful junior career. She won many titles, but her senior career faced challenges. She had three serious knee injuries (ACL tears). Despite these setbacks, she always came back stronger. She competed at the 2016, 2020, and 2024 Olympic Games, winning multiple medals.

Rebeca's Early Life

Rebeca Andrade was born on May 8, 1999, in Guarulhos, Brazil. She is one of eight children. Her mom worked hard cleaning houses to pay for Rebeca's gymnastics training.

Rebeca started gymnastics when she was just four years old. Her aunt took her to the gym where she worked. When she was nine, she moved to Curitiba to train. A year later, she moved to Rio de Janeiro to train at the Flamengo club. Rebeca is Afro-Brazilian and speaks both Portuguese and English.

Junior Gymnastics Career

Starting International Competitions

Rebeca first competed internationally when she was 13. This was at the Junior Pan American Championships. She helped Brazil win a silver medal as a team. Individually, she won gold medals in the all-around, vault, and floor exercise. She also won a bronze medal on the balance beam.

Later that year, she won gold with her team and in the all-around at the Junior South American Championships. She even won the all-around title at a big Brazilian competition, beating older Olympic gymnasts!

More Junior Success

In 2013, Rebeca continued to shine. She won gold in the junior all-around at the Nadia Comăneci Invitational. At her second Junior South American Championships, her team won gold. Rebeca also won gold on vault and uneven bars, and silver on balance beam.

She competed at the Gymnasiade in Brazil. Her team won silver, and Rebeca won a bronze medal in the all-around. She also won a gold medal on vault.

Junior Pan American Champion

In 2014, Rebeca started strong at the WOGA Classic in Texas. She won gold in the all-around, vault, and uneven bars. She also won silver medals with her team, on balance beam, and floor exercise.

At the Junior Pan American Championships, her team won silver. Rebeca won silver in the all-around and on floor exercise. But she won gold on vault, uneven bars, and balance beam! She was supposed to go to the Youth Olympics but had to withdraw because of a broken toe.

Senior Gymnastics Career

First Senior Competitions and Injury

Rebeca became old enough to compete as a senior in 2015. She won a bronze medal on uneven bars at the Ljubljana World Cup. She then won a silver medal on vault at the São Paulo World Cup.

However, in June 2015, Rebeca tore her ACL (a knee ligament) for the first time. This meant she missed important competitions like the Pan American Games and World Championships.

Road to the 2016 Olympics

Rebeca came back strong in 2016 after her injury. She won a silver medal on uneven bars at the Doha World Cup. She helped Brazil win gold at the Olympic Test Event, which qualified a full team for the 2016 Olympics. She also won a bronze medal on uneven bars there.

She continued to win medals at other World Cups, including two silvers on balance beam and floor exercise. In July 2016, Rebeca was officially named to the Brazilian Olympic team.

Team Brazil at the Olympic Test Event

Uneven bars podium at the Olympic Test Event

Andrade at the 2016 Olympic Games

At the 2016 Olympics, Rebeca helped Brazil reach the team finals. She also qualified for the all-around final in third place! In the team final, Brazil finished eighth. In the individual all-around, Rebeca finished eleventh.

More Injuries and Comebacks

In 2017, Rebeca won more World Cup medals. She won gold on vault at the Koper Challenge Cup. She also won gold on vault and uneven bars at the Varna Challenge Cup. However, she injured her ankle in May. Then, she tore her ACL for a second time during warmups for the World Championships and had to withdraw.

Rebeca returned to competition in 2018. She helped the Brazilian team win silver at the Pan American Championships. She then made her World Championships debut. Brazil finished seventh in the team final. After the World Championships, Rebeca won gold medals on vault and balance beam at the Cottbus World Cup.

In 2019, Rebeca won team gold and all-around gold at the DTB Team Challenge. But then, she tore her ACL for the third time. This meant she missed the 2019 World Championships. Without her, the Brazilian team did not qualify for the 2020 Olympic Games as a full team.

Olympic Glory and World Titles

Rebeca's big comeback was in 2021. She competed at the Pan American Championships and won gold in the all-around. This earned her a spot at the 2020 Olympic Games (which were held in 2021 due to the pandemic).

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Rebeca made history! She won a silver medal in the all-around, becoming the first Brazilian female gymnast to win an Olympic medal. Then, she won the gold medal on vault, making her the first Olympic champion in Brazilian women's artistic gymnastics history! She also placed fifth in the floor final. Rebeca was chosen to be Brazil's flag bearer at the closing ceremony.

After the Olympics, Rebeca continued her success at the 2021 World Championships. She won the gold medal on vault and a silver medal on uneven bars. She was the first Brazilian gymnast to win a World medal on uneven bars!

In 2022, Rebeca became the World Champion in the all-around! This was a huge achievement, making her the first South American gymnast to win this title. She also won a bronze medal on floor exercise at the World Championships. Earlier that year, she helped Brazil win gold at the Pan American Championships, beating the United States for the first time since 1997.

In 2023, Rebeca continued to shine. At the World Championships, she helped Brazil win a historic team silver medal. This was Brazil's first team medal ever at a World Championships! Rebeca also won silver in the all-around, gold on vault, bronze on balance beam, and silver on floor exercise. By winning a medal on balance beam, she became one of only 11 gymnasts to win a World Championships medal on every single event.

She finished 2023 strong at the Pan American Games. She won gold on vault and balance beam, and silver with her team and on uneven bars.

Paris 2024 Olympics

Andrade winning the silver medal in the all-around at the 2024 Olympics

In 2024, Rebeca competed at the Paris Olympics. She helped the Brazilian team win a bronze medal, their first ever Olympic team medal! She also won a silver medal in the individual all-around.

On the first day of event finals, Rebeca won a silver medal on vault. Then, on the final day, she won a gold medal on floor exercise! This made her the first Brazilian Olympic floor champion, male or female. After her floor win, other famous gymnasts like Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles bowed to her, a moment that went viral.

With her six Olympic medals from 2020 and 2024, Rebeca Andrade is now the most decorated Brazilian Olympian in any sport!

Rebeca's Life Outside the Gym

Rebeca became very famous in Brazil after her success at the 2020 Olympics. She even appeared on the cover of Vogue Brasil magazine. She has also won the Brazil Olympic Prize multiple times, being recognized as the best Brazilian female athlete.

Rebeca has worked with a psychologist since she was 13 years old. She even wants to study psychology herself one day. Her biggest idol in gymnastics is the Brazilian world champion Daiane dos Santos.

Images for kids

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  Andrade performing her uneven bars dismount at the 2016 Olympic Games.

See also

In Spanish: Rebeca Andrade para niños