Rebeca Andrade made history at the Paris Olympics on Thursday (1) afternoon. The gymnast fought one of the most anticipated disputes of the Games with Simone Biles, from the United States, and won the silver medal in women’s artistic gymnastics individual all-around.
Thursday's medal adds to the bronze in the team all-around final Brazil got on Tuesday (30) and the two she won at Tokyo 2020: a silver medal in the individual all-around and gold in the vault. Now, she has become the female Brazilian athlete with the most Olympic medals in history.
The number could still grow: Rebeca has three more finals in Paris. If she wins a medal, she will equal the record held by Brazilian sailing athletes Torben Grael and Robert Scheidt, who have five medals each. If she gets two more medals, she will be Brazil's greatest Olympic medalist. In all the finals – beam, floor and vault – her greatest rival will be Biles again.
The results of both athletes in recent years have given them credentials for being on the podium. Biles was favored, but Rebeca was her only viable competitor.
The expectation of a high-level final came true. None of the gymnasts made any serious mistakes. The most serious mistake was Biles' instability on uneven bars – the weakest event of both gymnasts. The mistake led Rebeca to take the lead after the second of four events and also raised the dreams of Brazilian fans for a gold medal.
Biles' floor performance, however, ended any chance of Rebeca standing on the top step of the podium and giving Brazil its first gold in Paris. In the final round, the American gymnast scored the highest mark of the day on the floor – 15.066 – and won the competition.
Biles’ score shows how different she is from the other athletes in the individual all-around final. Rebeca had the second-best score on the floor among the 24 competitors: 14.033, more than a point behind Biles.
Silver in the race walk
Earlier that same day, Brazil won another silver medal with Caio Bonfim in the men’s 20km race walk. It was the first victory for the 33-year-old athlete, who is making his fourth Olympic appearance.
The achievement resulted in another historic photo in this edition Olympics. The image shows the Brazilian athlete leading the race, with a group of competitors behind him in a formation that
Caio Bonfim leads the competition; the photo went viral on social media on Thursday (1st), resembles the map of Brazil. / David Ramos / POOL / AFP
Caio Bonfim had already come close to a medal at the Rio 2016 Olympics, when he finished fourth in the race walk, until then Brazil's best result in this sport. In London (2012), on his Olympic debut, he fell ill and didn't complete the competition. And in Tokyo (2021), he finished in 13th place.
Other results
It was a day of good results in women's volleyball. On the court, the Brazilian team beat Japan (3-0) to return the defeat they suffered in the semi-final of the Nations League, a preparatory tournament for the Olympics that Brazil has never won. The team won every match in the qualifying phase, but lost the semi-final and the third-place play-off.
In beach volleyball, Ana Patrícia and Duda beat Italy's Gottardi and Menegatti (2-0) to finish the qualifying round undefeated. They will play the round of 16 on Sunday (4) at 4 am (Brasilia time). Their opponents are yet to be determined.
In men’s beach volleyball, George and Andrá lost (2-1) to the Americans Partain and Benesh. With one victory and two defeats, the pair will play in a play-off for a place in the last 16, with no date and time yet set.
In judo, the two Brazilians who competed on the day lost their opening matches. Leonardo Gonçalves (-100kg) was beaten by Dzhafar Kostoev, from the United Arab Emirates. Mayra Aguiar (-78kg), who won bronze medals in the 2012, 2016 and 2020 Olympics, fell to Italy's Alice Bellandi.
In women's surfing, the third round featured a clash of Brazilians. Luana Silva beat Tainá Hinckel (6.77 to 5.93) to advance to the round of 8. Tatiana Weston-Webb put in an excellent performance and beat American Caitlin Simmers (12.34 to 1.93). The round of 8 was held on Thursday (1st) evening.
