Rebeca Andrade may have missed out on all-around Olympic gold to Simone Biles on Thursday but if the Brazilian was feeling disappointed she was doing a fine job of masking it.
After Biles’s brilliant final floor exercise stole the show Andrade, the 2022 all-around world champion, wore a smile as wide as the third rotation’s beam.
The 25-year-old explained: “I was so proud of her (Biles), it was wonderful, I was really really happy, and I was proud of my competition - so it was a smile for me too.”
The pair served up a truly epic duel with the balance of power shifting from rotation to rotation.
Andrade pushed Biles to the absolute limit, only 1.199 points splitting the pair - making the American superstar’s sixth Olympic gold medal taste even sweeter.
“I’ve never had an athlete that close, so it definitely put me on my toes and it brought out the best athlete in myself,” Biles acknowledged.
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Andrade had vaulted into Olympic history at the Tokyo Games when she became the first Brazilian woman to win gymnastics gold.
She also took all-around silver in a gymnastics competition at the Covid-delayed 2020 Olympics robbed of Biles’s brilliance due to her well documented mental health issue at the time.
“What happened (to Biles) in Tokyo was a difficult situation,” Andrade said.
“Here she was back to 100 percent, giving her maximum. That was great to see.”
“It was an honour to compete against her, because I can see how happy she is to compete again,” Andrade, the defending Olympic vault champion, added.
“She was enjoying the competition. To have her here with that mindset and behaviour is important for us as well.”
Since Tokyo, Andrade secured vault gold at the 2021 world championships, and the all-around world title a year later.
At the 2023 worlds the duo served up a taste of what was to come in Paris.
Biles won four golds and a silver in Antwerp -- Andrade finishing second to her arch rival each time -- but beating the American to the vault title.
“I don’t wanna compete with Rebeca no more,” laughed Biles.
“She’s way too close. I’ve just never been so stressed before. Thank you Rebeca!”
Biles may not be looking forward to it but sports fans across the globe will be counting the days before the pair cross swords again.
The good news is they won’t have to wait long with Andrade and Biles meeting again back at the Bercy Arena on Saturday for the vault final.
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