Rebeca Andrade, the pride of Brazil, the most decorated Olympian in Brazil, and Simone Biles’ fiercest competitor is truly the creme de la creme of gymnastics. Rebeca gave it everything at the Paris 2024 Olympics, leaving her heart on the mat. Sure, Team USA pushed Brazil to third in the team event, but Rebeca wasn’t about to throw in the towel. In the All-Around final, it was neck and neck until the very end, with Biles pulling ahead on the last apparatus to take the gold, leaving Rebeca with a well-earned silver.

The Vault finally told a similar tale, with Biles stealing the show again. But Rebeca wasn’t about to go home empty-handed. She brought the house down on the floor exercise with a beautiful routine at the Bercy Arena, earning 14.166 to snag the gold medal. That victory was the cherry on top of the Olympics, officially making her Brazil’s most decorated Olympian ever. Sharing the podium with Biles and Jordan Chiles, who took silver and bronze, was the icing on the cake. Even Rebeca made Simone nervous. Laughing, she said, “Knowing that I gave Simone a bit of work is cool, right?”

And Simone didn’t hold back either, admitting, “I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes.” For the first time, Biles was truly being pushed to her limits, and that’s no small thing. Now, three months later, Rebeca’s achievements are being celebrated on another stage.

The Brazilian Olympic Committee announced she’s one of 21 athletes being honored with the prestigious Brazilian Olympic Prize. Well, the awards ceremony is set for December 11 at Vivo Rio. But reaching this stage wasn’t easy for Rebeca, even though she thought of retiring after the Paris Olympics.

Is Rebeca Andrade’s Olympic career over?

Rebeca was born in Sao Paulo and grew up with seven siblings and a mother who had to clean houses to support her training. She was into this genre of sport when her aunt used to work at the gym, and she took her to try out. Since Rebeca set her foot on the mat. By the time she was 4, she was training at that gym, and even though money was tight, her older brother would walk two hours each way to make sure she could make it to practice.

At the age of ten, Rebeca secured a right to take professional training in another state and leave her family behind after her performance at the Junior Pan-American Games of 2009. That is when things began to change for her, as her road to success wasn’t easy. However, she battled three ACLs, which threatened to cut short her career. No, Rebeca didn’t plan to let it go like that. She recovered from a third ACL tear in 2019 and then was preparing for the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

And her hard work paid off in a very big way. During the Tokyo Games, Rebeca became the first Brazilian woman to win Olympic medals in artistic gymnastics, where she won a silver medal in the individual all-around competition. All the failures and hesitation about the future or its absence did not stop her—she moved further. In 2024, she kept on excelling during the Paris Olympics but later gave hints of exit.

After making it to Paris, she shared that she had written a note back in March 2024, a farewell letter to gymnastics, thinking that this Olympics would be her last. Fans were giving her a very hard time, saying that she was selfish and ungrateful, and that really got to her. Nevertheless, instead of having it all pile up and get to her, Rebeca thought it best to look after herself.

Now, therefore, Rebeca who has endured so much, is planning for her future. On Instagram, she shared in September, “I thought this year would be the end of my career, but it looks like I have other plans.” Despite all the successes that she has attained and everything she might have done, she never has the feeling that she is through yet. “What a pride to look at my story and see how far I’ve come,” she said. While she’s taking some time to recharge, people are already speculating whether we’ll see her back for the 2028 Olympics in LA. One thing’s for sure: Rebeca Andrade isn’t done making history yet.