LIVERPOOL, England – Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade ascended to the top of the gymnastics world on Thursday, becoming the first South American gymnast to win the women’s world all-around title.
Everything seemed to fall into place for Andrade in front of a packed M&S Bank Arena, where she bested silver medalist Shilese Jones (USA) 56.899-55.399 – a significant difference of 1.5 points. Jessica Gadirova (GBR) won the bronze (55.199).
The top qualifiers rotated in Olympic order, with Andrade, Jones, Gadirova, and Jade Carey (USA) among the top six starting on vault. There, Carey led off the competition with a clean performance of the difficult Cheng vault (14.733). Jones followed with one of her signature double-twisting Yurchenko (14.233), but it was Andrade in the third slot who drew massive applause from the crowd with a technically-superior version of the Cheng, garnering a massive 15.166 to start the competition.
Moving to bars, Jones started the rotation with a strong set, improving on her team final performance to earn a 14.366. Andrade ran into trouble on the apparatus, going over on a handstand on the high bar, but she never broke form and adjusted quickly, taking an extra swing and finishing strong for a 13.800 – lower than usual, but still enough to maintain the lead. Carey anchored the rotation with a 13.166 to drop to third heading to beam.
“I don’t know exactly what I did,” Andrade said of her split-second adjustment. “But I know my routine and what I need to do, so I thought fast and just continued.”
Beam saw the rise of Gadirova, who hit a nearly flawless set to score the top mark of the contenders in the rotation with a 13.733. Andrade (13.533) and Jones (13.100) had no trouble on the apparatus that was the setting for many falls in the team final just two days earlier. Carey, though, adjusted her set after falling on her flight series in the warmup, opting to remove the second layout of her series to “go for the hit and do what [she knew] was clean.”
Carey’s 12.633 dropped her to 6th heading to floor, while Andrade maintained the top spot followed by Jones, Alice Kinsella (GBR), and Gadirova.
With the most precarious of events completed, Andrade simply needed to land on her feet on floor. After Gadirova (14.400), reigning Olympic champion Carey (14.166), and Jones (13.700) each performed masterfully under pressure, Brazil’s longtime gymnastics superstar needed just a 12.900 to win. Andrade delivered much more, earning a 14.400 with a routine highlighted by a punch full through to full-twisting double back, a full-twisting double layout, double layout, and double pike.
As Andrade walked off the floor, there was no doubt the audience had just witnessed the coronation of a new queen of gymnastics.
“Everything always happens when it needs to, and I am really happy to have done everything I could and not lose the competition on my bar routine,” Andrade said after the meet. “I did my beam routine with all the connections and all the difficulty, and that was one of my best floor routines ever. I’m so proud of myself.”
The goals were different in Tokyo and Liverpool. The 23-year-old wanted to simply perform to the best of her ability at the Olympics last summer, but this week, it was about “continuing to do the gymnastics in a happier form.”
Andrade’s career has been marred by injuries and eight surgeries, with the most recent coming in 2019. Then, as she was really coming into her own, the pandemic hit, and she was “alone for four months” with her family in another state. It was a difficult time, but looking back, it also proved to be a crucial turning point for her career.
“At the same time, it was a moment that I had with my psychologic and my feeling to have what I want in gymnastics, and I had more time to have recovery from my [knee injury],” Andrade said. “It was a really important moment, and in this moment, I turned the key.”
Andrade is one of eight children to a single mom. After starting the sport at four years old, her mother would clean houses and walk to work to pay for her training. Eventually, she had to move to a training center that was more conducive for her talent.
“I always dreamed of being an Olympic and world champion, but when I was 10 years old and I had to leave home, I felt it was going to be really hard. That was when I believed I could do it,” Andrade reflected.
It’s a nearly 20-year story that is still unfolding – it seems Andrade is just now peaking, with much more potential and no lack of enthusiasm for her sport. She’s also contradicting the myth that you have to be a teenager to be the best gymnast in the world; Andrade is the oldest women’s world all-around champion since Russia’s Svetlana Khorkina won in 2003.
Despite competing some of the most difficult skills in the world and doing so with exceptional form, the trademark of Andrade’s gymnastics is her love of it – the smiles, the sheer excitement, and the pure joy that is constantly visible, whether she’s just completed a perfect routine or had to count a fall.
“I have a psychologist who’s helped me since I was 13 years old, and this has made a big difference for me as a gymnast and a person,” Andrade said. “I have a lot of moments, not just in my sporting life but in my personal life, too – my injuries, the things I needed to do to be here now. There have been a lot of things that have helped me make adjustments when I need to. I don’t feel pressure doing gymnastics, because that’s my job. I was happy to be here.”
History for Andrade is also history for Brazil, a country that has been on the rise in men’s and women’s gymnastics for the past couple of quads in particular, especially since the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The sport is slowly becoming more popular in South America’s largest country of more than 209 million people, and Andrade knows this win will contribute to that growth – her triumph is bigger than herself.
“Because the results the team are getting, [it’s] making the gymnastics get bigger and bigger in Brazil,” Andrade said. “For me, the gymnastics is not forever, but I know the next generations [are] capable to do it like me and get more medals for Brazil.”
