In the electrifying world of gymnastics, few moments hit as hard as the Paris 2024, where Rebeca Andrade, Simone Biles, and Jordan Chiles made history as the first all-Black trio to claim the podium in the floor exercise final. Now, as the 2025 Laureus Awards come closer, Rebeca looks upon those moments with much emotion. But as her trip to Madrid comes closer, her recent comments on pole vaulting star Mondo Duplantis are what caught the community buzzing. So what did she say?

In a moment that had fans doing a double-take, Andrade turned her admiration to the man sitting beside her: Mondo Duplantis, the 25-year-old Swedish pole vaulting phenom. “Pole vaulting also has a lot to do with gymnastics, and I like to practice it a bit, at a basic level, of course, so I can appreciate how incredible, how extraordinary they are,” she said, her eyes sparkling as Duplantis’ typically ironic gaze widened in genuine admiration.

Duplantis, the 11-time world record holder with a current mark of 6.27 meters, is no stranger to defying gravity, having soared to Olympic golds in Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024. Andrade’s confession about dabbling in pole vaulting to better grasp its athletic poetry forged an unexpected bond between these two. What brought these superstars together in Madrid?

The stage for this heartfelt exchange was a press conference on the sidelines of the 2025 Laureus Awards in Madrid, where both Andrade and Duplantis, alongside Simone Biles, were set to be honored on April 21, 2025. The 25th anniversary of the Laureus Awards, which celebrate sports’ biggest game-changers, couldn’t have picked a more electric trio.

Biles, though not yet in Madrid, loomed large as a fellow nominee, her Paris 2024 haul of three golds and a silver cementing her GOAT status. Duplantis, fresh off another record-breaking year, and Andrade, glowing from her historic Olympic triumph, shared a moment of mutual respect that had fans buzzing.

The presence of gymnastics legend Nadia Comaneci, a Laureus founding member who spotted Andrade’s potential at age 10, added a layer of legacy to the event. How did this moment amplify their shared journey? More importantly, what’s Rebeca up to?

Rebeca targeting return

Rebeca Andrade, the two-time Olympic gold medalist, is locked in on a bold 2025 mission: the Artistic Gymnastics World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia, from October 11-19. Fresh off her Paris 2024 heroics—where she snagged floor exercise gold (14.166), vault silver, all-around silver, and team bronze—the Brazilian superstar is gearing up to add to her 12 world championship medals (five golds, three silvers, and four bronzes).

“I’m going to train for the Worlds. I hope everything goes well and I get good results. I’m not even talking about being on the podium,” Andrade told Olympics.com at the Laureus Awards in Madrid, her focus razor-sharp on team unity and personal growth. Training with coach Francisco Porath, she’s strategizing for Jakarta while managing the physical toll of her three ACL tears (2015, 2017, 2019). But which events will she tackle to lead Brazil’s charge?

While Andrade’s floor exercise gold in Paris was a showstopper, she’s skipping floor training to preserve her knees, prioritizing vault, where she’s a 2021 and 2023 world champion and Tokyo 2020 gold medalist, and other events are still under wraps. “I’m still not sure [about the events]. My coach can answer better than I can, but we train everything… except floor,” she said, leaving fans buzzing about her potential routines.

With an eye on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics and curiosity about the new mixed team event, Andrade’s hunger for growth is undeniable. “It’s going to be a very tough, very competitive event. I’m not sure if I’ll take part… but it’s interesting and I want to see it,” she added. So, how will Rebeca Andrade’s Jakarta journey shape her path to 2028?