Rebeca Andrade has closed out her 2024 Paris Games with an exclamation point…
The 25-year-old Brazilian artistic gymnast edged out American superstar Simone Biles in Monday’s women’s gymnastics floor final to earn the gold medal, becoming Brazil’s most decorated Olympian in any discipline with six career medals.
Andrade, already a gold medalist in the vault at the pandemic-delayed 2020 Tokyo Games, won her fourth medal in Paris after all-around and vault silver and team bronze
Going into the competition, Biles was the favorite to come out on top after her seven-tenth lead in qualifications and a difficulty score of 6.9. Andrade was expected to take the silver.
But Biles, who struggled in warm-ups and was limping due to her calf injury, didn’t execute her routine to perfection, earning a 14.133 from the judges, .033 behind Andrade’s 14.166.
Team USA’s Jordan Chiles took home the bronze with a 13.766, after her coaches appealed her initial score.
Together, Andrade, Biles and Chiles made Olympic history as the first three Black gymnasts to share the top three spots in an Olympics — a feat that also occurred at last year’s world championships, when Biles and Andrade shared the podium with Shilese Jones in the individual all-around.
In a show of true sportsmanship and respect, Biles and Chiles bowed in honor of the gold medalist following the medal presentation as Andrade raised her arms triumphantly while smiling.
“First, it was an all-Black podium, so that was super exciting for us,” Biles told reporters in a press conference. “But then Jordan was like, ‘Should we bow to her?’ And I was like, ‘absolutely’ — it was just the right thing to do.”
“She’s so amazing. She’s queen,” Biles said. “She’s such an excitement to watch — all the fans in the crowd always cheering for her.”
