Rebeca Andrade is in a league of her own. The 25-year-old Brazilian gymnast finished the gymnastics competition in Paris 2024 by capturing gold in the floor exercise and becoming the most decorated Brazilian Olympian ever.
It was the second Olympic gold of Andrade’s career, after achieving the same feat in vault in Tokyo 2020. She has six total medals in her three Olympic appearances, enough to make her the most decorated athlete from her country. Andrade has also now become the first gymnast ever to beat Biles at a floor exercise final at a major international tournament.
Those are a lot of firsts from Andrade, who did not come into the floor exercise final as a favorite. Andrade, however, delivered a clean routine, without any big deductions, and saw Biles step out of bounds twice, which gave her the chance she needed to conquer that gold. In the end, even Biles – widely considered the greatest gymnast of all time – knew Andrade had done it, and went on to congratulate her.
Biles and Chiles both took a bow to Andrade during the medal ceremony, recognizing her achievement.
Brazil’s racial equity minister, Anielle Franco, also lauded Andrade’s achievement, saying on X, “Once again a black woman bringing gold to Brazil! She is phenomenal! Rebeca becomes the BIGGEST BRAZILIAN OLYMPIC MEDALIST IN HISTORY, with six medals!! Rebeca Andrade the queen of Brazil!”
Andrade was also part of the first All-Black podium in Olympics history alongside Simone Biles and Jordan Chiles, both from the United States.
Now, Andrade gets to savor her victory and what she has achieved. What’s next doesn’t matter. It can be discussed at a later date. We can take the time to enjoy the now and what this means for Andrade and a country that has a 6-time Olympic medalist to brag about.