Struggling From Poverty, Simone Biles’ Rival Rebeca Andrade Reveals Mother’s Irreplaceable Role in Gymnastics Career

Rebeca Andrade, a prominent gymnast and a fierce competitor of Simone Biles, shared her journey from poverty to success. She came to the spotlight after winning silver at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. She credits her mother Maria José Andrade’s unwavering support for her success. Despite many hardships, her mother nurtured Andrade’s talent and determination. 

Andrade has often opened up about how she’s had to go through financial struggles since childhood. With Paris 2024 less than 80 days away, Andrade is hopeful. The reigning vault champion wishes for herself and Biles to be in top form. However, she credits her mother with sacrificing her own comfort to make it possible for Rebeca to be successful. 

Rebeca Andrade’s journey from hardship to triumph

A recent post on Twitter shared a clip of Rebeca Andrade from an interview with CGTN America. The caption reveals it all: “Rebecca Andrade explains the financial struggles she’s experienced when she started training in Brazil 🇧🇷. She said her mother had to give up her bus passes and she also had to walk up to 2 hours at one point to get to the gym.” In the video, Andrade is seen at the gym as she details how she is one of 8 siblings, and her mom was a single mother. Andrade adds that her mother made many sacrifices to support her dream since age five. The financial struggle was the most daunting part. 

Rebeca Andrade’s mother used to work as a maid. The family lived with very limited resources on the outskirts of Guarulhos. The house only had one room and one bathroom for everyone to share. She mentioned how Ms Maria would often have to borrow money for food and rely on donated clothes as the family could afford neither, stating, “Mom would borrow money so we’d have food. And as there wasn’t money left, we couldn’t buy other things. All the clothes I had came from people I knew who would give them to me.” Rebeca added, “It was very difficult. My mother had no money and I kept missing training.” 

Her brother also bought a bike later to take her to the gym. However, that often used to break down. Eventually, she started staying with her coach, Keli Kitaura, and would only go home on the weekends, so she would not miss training. From this situation, the whole Andrade family has come very far, especially after Andrade’s success. Rebeca told Olympics.com, “To know that it is really difficult, but that if you want, if you have the will, if you want to make it happen, you can do it.” In the past few years, Rebeca has emerged to be one of the few people giving Simone Biles a run for her money in pursuit of gymnastics excellence. 

Simone Biles and Rebeca Andrade’s journeys to overcome obstacles

When recounting Rebeca Andrade’s early life, Simone Biles often comes to mind. Both Olympic gymnasts had a rough childhood, especially from a monetary aspect. At around age 3, because of financial constraints, Simone Biles entered foster care before being adopted by her grandparents.

They both have thanked their family for letting them be the women they are today. Biles even said about her adoptive parents, “I was very, very blessed and fortunate…I felt love, care. I was healthy. I was safe.” In some ways, Andrade’s early coach Kitaura acted like a proxy parent during the week when Andrade would remain under her care to train consistently. They also faced setbacks on their way to stardom. But Andrade and Biles have remained grateful for their support system.

Rebeca stated, “You can do it if you have people who believe in you. I had all the support, physical and emotional, so I could come back, that was really important.” They’re both inspirations for a generation of female athletes to come. When Andrade placed second in Tokyo, her teammate Daiane dos Santos wept with joy.

After her win, Rebeca said, “This medal is not just mine, it’s one for everyone that knows my story, everything I have been through. There have been so many people that helped me along the way.” With all that, Andrade came close to beating Biles in the 2023 Worlds vault finals, a rare achievement, and Simone herself could not stop expressing her regard for Andrade.

“I actually love competing with Rebeca, she does push me, she makes me want to stick all my landings,” Simone had said adding, “she’s a phenomenal gymnast so I hope she keeps going and hopefully we see more of her on the podium.” Even Andrade is looking ahead to going against Biles in Paris 2024.

She said after the world when she won silver against Biles’ gold, “It’s about doing my best” But once again, in a great show of sportsmanship, she added, “And I hope she (Biles) does too, that she does her best, because it’s an honor to be able to compete alongside her.” While Andrade has already qualified for the Brazilian 2024 Olympic team, we are waiting for Biles to get her own spot on the USA’s team.