Rebeca Andrade Teasing Risky Move for Paris Olympics Has Gymnastics Community Worried: “Take Care of Your Knees”

“I will not rest one day until I’m 100% again,” Rebeca Andrade shared in 2019 after facing her third ACL injury. In fact, her previous two injuries had occurred in the same knee and cut her gymnastics endeavors short. The Brazilian phenom couldn’t participate in the 2015 and 2017 World Championships. The third injury threatened to overshadow her Tokyo Olympics experience. Thankfully, she got out of her injury woes and walked away with a silver medal hanging around her neck in Tokyo. But what about the Paris Olympics?

Paris offers her a big opportunity at gold and the gymnast will not let it go. And so, Andrade drew the gymnastics community’s attention by successfully landing a difficult vault, the Triple Twisting Yurchenko (TTY). What’s so interesting about this? Only a handful of gymnasts have attempted this move in the sport’s history, and no female gymnast has executed it.

If Andrade successfully completes it in Paris, it will bear the Brazilian’s name in the Code of Points. This will also help close her difficulty gap with Simone Biles. Though Biles and Andrade have competed against each other before, in Paris they both will be in peak form. They are expected to clash for the gold medal in the all-around, vault, and floor finals.

After the Tokyo Olympics, Rebeca Andrade’s career has skyrocketed. Last year, in the World Artistic Gymnastics Championships in Antwerp, she helped the Brazilian squad win its first world championships team medal. Not just that, in the individual vault event, she outshone Simone Biles, in winning the gold medal.

She continued the same form in other individual events as well by winning laurels. That achievement made her the eleventh gymnast to win world championship medals on every single apparatus. So when talking about Paris in 2023, Rebeca stated, “They should wait for me to give 110%, regardless of what happens in the competition.” 

However, after X users watched her landing the Triple Twisting Yurchenko, they got worried. While many praised her skill and bravery, others expressed concern for her knee, which had previously caused her significant trouble. With the Paris Olympics just weeks away, cautious fans have suggested that she should tread carefully.

Rebeca Andrade’s stunts cause fear among fans: Stay safe!

The ACL injury has played the real Achilles Heel in Rebeca Andrade’s gymnastics life. She already has 11 medals from her world championship and Olympic Games. But this count could have increased if she competed in both the 2015 and 2017 WAGs. Hence, fans requested her to take it easy as the Paris Olympics inches near. One fan has pleased, “Oh no no no. Pls save your knees.” Similarly, another fan mentioned, “Please take care of your knees.” 

A similar sentiment has echoed in another fan’s comment. “Please stay healthy Rebeca we love your clean and beautiful gymnastics. No more acl tears please !”

In the meantime, several judicious fans found a glitch in her landing while completing the TTY schedule. That could be a reason to ponder for her fans. Notably, McKayla Maroney, the 2012 Olympian, once landed a two-and-a-half twisting Yurchenko with finesse. But she never showed effort to pull off the TTY.

Therefore, Rebeca Andrade’s efforts could make her one of the most prominent gymnasts on the international platform to showcase that. However, her worried fan penned, “Yikes looks like she is still twisting as she lands!  Hope her knees stay safe!” Lastly, a fan suggested, bubble wrap her pls.” 

However, let us not forget that Rebeca Andrade herself knows the complexities that come with this sport. And that’s why she has rerouted her schedules after discussing it with her coach Chico Porath. So it seems fans do not have to worry about Andrade. She has got her priorities straight.