“I’ve worked so hard to achieve this,” Rebeca Andrade’s words after her Paris performance refreshed the memories of her rollercoaster journey. Fresh off her third Olympics stint, Andrade recently clinched two medals, taking her tally to 4, which makes her the most decorated Brazilian gymnast ever. Whereas, Simone Biles took 4 home from Paris, which slated her in the same bracket in America, with 11 Olympic medals in total. But their rise to the top was quite different from each other.

Both of them had their maiden Olympic run in Rio. While the American came home with 4 medals, Andrade’s debut Olympic appearance was not the ‘hit show’ that everyone expected. Despite unbridled love pouring in from her home crowd in Rio de Janeiro, she had failed to leave a mark. But Andrade’s former coach recently spilled the beans on a possible flaw that resulted in her Rio results being weaker than expected. And as she does that, a slew of fans side with Andrade on her evolution over the years.

Rebeca Andrade’s coach provides an assessment

In a recent YouTube video uploaded by UOL Esporte, Keli Kitaura is seen commenting on Andrade not bagging a medal at Rio, where Simone Biles had won the all-around gold. Kitaura agrees that Rebeca has always had a very strong foundation. And in gymnastics, having a good base helps you develop your higher exercises much faster. Moreover, Kitaura also attests that Andrade’s technical skills have greatly improved. And so has her maturity, which was lacking earlier.

Coach Kitaura mentions, “She [Rebeca Andrade] was maturing very slowly, at first, I think even at the 2016 Olympics, she just didn’t get the medal because she was still very immature then.” But it seems that the tables have turned. She continues, “After that she grew up, technically and also mentally, right? And this is something that Kituara takes immense pride in, for she witnesses that difference in Andrade today.

Speaking on Andrade’s recent showdown in the City of Lights, she further adds how she is loving Andrade’s focused, happy, cheerful, and satisfied attitude today. However, the coach’s rationale behind Andrade’s Rio upset is being widely discussed by social media fans. And a lot of perspectives are being shared. Especially, in comparison to Simone Biles.

Andrade’s maiden Olympic upset becomes a point of discussion for Simone Biles’ fans

A Reddit thread by r/Gymnastics opens this angle for exploration. It cites Coach Kitaura’s outlook while also mentioning that Andrade became a senior in 2015, the very year when she battled the first of three ACL tears. Resultantly, she had a significant pause, away from the World Championship and Pan-Am mats that year. However, after making a comeback in 2016, she secured an Olympic ticket but could not medal. To this, a fan reacts, “Agreed. She has always had the skills and difficulty to be among the world’s best – but as we have seen time and time again, talent is not enough if you are a headcase in big moments.” 

The thread also mentions that the home crowd added substantial pressure, and she was against extremely seasoned gymnasts like Simone Biles. To this, one of the fans agreed. They wrote, “I think this is totally fair, thinking about the Olympics before and after that, being in a home crowd can be terrifying for even a seasoned gymnast. Rebeca was so young in 2016 and everyone on the AA podium was hugely seasoned, I mean Simone was the least experienced of the three. And I wonder if she’d medaled in 2016 and then had all those injuries if she’d have decided to quit because she’d already accomplished something so major.”

Andrade and the other Brazilian gymnasts had finished 8th in the team all-around at Rio. Whereas, her individual finishes included 11th all-around, 15th on the uneven bars, and 20th on the floor. Nonetheless, some feel that she lacked in a few aspects. One of them wrote, “Oh I absolutely thought that at the time. She was amazing in Rio but had that hesitancy holding back a little bit of the charisma and confidence. I would buy her making AA podium no trouble, if she’d had a slightly longer runup to the games.” Given that she was new to such a pristine international stage, the dearth of confidence showed.

However, Andrade has shown exceptional longevity in the sport. One of her fans remarks, “Rebeca was only 17 in 2016. In reality that is SO young. The pressure is huge on the oly stage. In reality, looking back, even some of the lauded best athletes in the past who were so young, who knows what could have been if they were able to continue onto an older age. Hell, look at how much more amazing Simone was in Paris than Rio. I am so glad that we got to see grown up Rebeca shine.”

Well, fans agree that Andrade has always had the talent. Also, she has come a long way in the past few years. Tracing this, one of them mentions, “The level of success she has amassed over a three year period is astonishing. Just a little over three years ago, her world/Olympic medal count was 0. Now it is 6 Olympic+9 World. And she’s the most decorated Brazilian Olympian of all time.” This echoes the same sentiment as Coach Kituara, for it exhibits Andrade’s growth over the years. What do you think of the reactions? Let us know.