The 23-year-old Brazilian gymnast, who won gold in the vault and silver in all-around at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, entered the competition as the favorite and more than delivered.
Follow Us
Rebeca Andrade scripted history by becoming the first South American gymnast to win the all-around title at the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2022 on October 3, 2022, in Liverpool, England. The 23-year-old Brazilian gymnast, who won gold in the vault and silver in all-around at the Tokyo Olympics 2020, entered the competition as the favorite and more than delivered. Shilese Jones of the United States finished second with 55.399 points. She was followed by Great Britain’s Jessica Gadirova who collected 55.199 points. This was also the first-ever medal won by a British woman at the World Championships.
Andrade established her leading position early on by beginning the day on vault. She came up with the highest score of the day by any gymnast in an event with a brilliant 9.566 for execution (15.166 total). Andrade put in a shaky effort on the uneven bars, but she maintained her cool altogether. The mistakes affected her score as her score of 13.800 was 0.866 lesser than her qualifying routine. On the balancing beam, she managed to correct the ship, scoring a 13.533 for a valiant effort that included a round-off, back handspring, and double pike. Andrade eventually claimed the title after putting on an outstanding floor exercise performance to finish the contest.
Andrade has fought COVID-19 in the run-up to the Tokyo Games and has suffered three ACL injuries (2015, 2017, and 2019) throughout her career that have kept her out of action for prolonged lengths of time. She also traveled to the World Championships Kitakyushu in October 2021 as a favorite in the all-around but opted out of the floor exercise to avoid putting undue strain on her knee.
Read more: Artistic Gymnastics World Championships 2022: USA Women’s Team claims Historic Gold Medal
