2 February 2023 – An exceptionally talented junior gymnast, Rebeca struggled for several years to reach her full potential as a senior due to a series of injuries. But she made a sensational comeback at the Tokyo Olympic Games in 2021, and a year later became world all-around champion. Here’s what the 23-year-old Brazilian star had to say about her career after she won the all-around title in Liverpool last November.

“I always dreamed of being an Olympic and world champion, but when I was 10 years old and had to leave home, I felt it was going to be really hard,” she said of her early days in the sport. 

She moved from her hometown in 2009 to benefit from the gymnastics facilities at the famous sports club, Flamengo, in Rio de Janeiro – best known for its football team. Within a few years, she had become a world class gymnast at junior level, winning several events around the world. 

However, in 2015 she suffered the first of a series of serious injuries that plagued her senior career. She tore ligaments in her right knee and had to miss her first world championships. It was the same injury, to the same knee, that returned to haunt her in 2017 and again in 2019.

“I have had a lot of difficult moments, not just in my sporting life but in my personal life too,” she said. “But you have to believe that even with all the difficulties, you have the capacity to achieve whatever you want. That if you want something, if you want to make it happen, you can do it.”

Recovering from so many injuries requires a lot of mental strength. “There have been a lot of things that helped me make adjustments,” she said. “I have a psychologist who’s helped me since I was 13 years old. This has made a big difference for me as a gymnast and a person.”

Rebeca’s triumphant return at the Olympic Games in 2021 made up for a disappointing year in 2019, when she wasn’t able to compete at the world championships after her third ACL tear. The Brazilian women’s team also suffered injuries to other gymnasts, and they were not able to qualify a full team to the Olympic Games. 

By 2021, Rebeca was fully recovered and won the Pan American all-around title just a few weeks before the Olympic Games. She arrived in Tokyo just wanting to enjoy herself and showcase her exuberant style of gymnastics. 

Her reward was the Olympic all-around silver medal and gold medal on vault, and the honour of carrying the Brazilian fag at the closing ceremony. A few months later she was back in Japan, at the 2021 world championships in Kitakyushu, where she enjoyed further success, winning gold on vault and silver on uneven bars. 

A year later, she proved that she was also the top all-around gymnast in the world. “It means a lot to me, because it shows I can still compete after injuries,” she said. “I really wanted an achievement like this in the individual all-around. For it to happen in my career, even just once in my life, to be the most complete gymnast in the world is very important to me.”

Now, her sights are set on the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, which will be her third Olympic Games. But first, she and her team need to qualify at the world championships in Antwerp later this year. “I really hope we can qualify the Brazilian team for the Olympic Games,” she said in Liverpool, where her team finished in fourth place. “I really want to be there with my team and be happy and healthy.”